The poor
When you are living in the land the Lord your God is giving you, there might be some poor people living among you. You must not be selfish. You must not refuse to give help to them. ~ Deuteronomy 15:7 (ERV)
If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear. ~ 1 John 3:17 (MSG)
KEY IDEA:
God thinks that it is important that we be helping those in need. It is a high priority.
PRAYER:
Lord,
THANKS: thank you for caring about me. I'm one of those needy people.
REGRETS: I'm confused about myself,
though. How is it that I'm so slow to show the kind of love that I have experienced?
INTERCESSION: Please give me a heart for the poor -- those who are broken and in need.
PURPOSE: I want to show the love of Jesus.
Amen.
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase — my own freestyle biblical adaptation — somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon
CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)
CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)
NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)
NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)
