Open Heaven Daily Devotional October 9 2022
THEME: Treat The Poor Right II
SCRIPTURE: – Proverbs 19:17 “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.”
Worse than those who only oppress the poor just because of their lowly status are the ones who do so in order to become richer. The Bible has this to say about them: He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want. – Proverbs 22:16
If you have an allocation in your care to be given to the poor but you keep it all to yourself, the Bible says that you would surely come to want. Likewise, if you refused to pay your employees their salaries even though you are making money from that same work they are doing for you, you are oppressing them because they are poor and cannot fight you. The Bible says that you would surely come to want. God is passionate about poor people. Don’t oppress them. Proverbs 21:13 says:
Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.
If you have been ignoring the poor, at least for the sake of what you have read in Proverbs 21:13, stop ignoring them. Give of your substance to those who have not. The Bible says in Luke 3:11 that if you have two of anything and you see someone who does not have any give that fellow one. These things should not be a big issue for Christians because the One who lives inside us is Love Himself. 1 John 4:8 says:
He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
If you don’t love your poor neighbours enough to give to them, then that puts a question mark on your claim of being a Christian. When we read the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-24, we don’t see the rich man committing any sin as it were. The only thing that the rich man did wrong was that he blocked his ears to the cry of poor Lazarus. He ended up in hell where he cried and no one could hear him let alone help him. In our Bible reading for today, when Jesus was sending sinners to hell, one of their offences was that they did not help the needy. Be wise and give to the poor.
Open Heavens 9 October 2022 Action Points:
Look for at least one person who needs something that you have and give it to that fellow today. Make it a habit to always give to the poor.
Credit for today’s Open Heaven daily devotional October 9 2022: Open Heaven/Openheaven.com