Faith the Christian and the poor

 Faith the Christian and the poor

In the book of Deuteronomy we read,

"If there is among you anyone in need, a member of your community in any of your towns within the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted towards your needy neighbor… Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, ‘Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land." Deuteronomy 15:7, 11.

In the book of James we read,

"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?  

Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  

If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?  

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." James2:14-17

This is as clear as it can be. We as believers in God. As believers in Christ Jesus are to do what we can to meet the needs of the poor.

In the book of proverbs we read,

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. 

Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy." Proverbs 31:8,9.

Also in Proverbs we read,

“Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor 

will himself call out and not be answered.” 

                                                  Proverbs 21:13

Are you doing your best to help the poor?

Please think about it

God or gods?

 God or gods?

In the book of Joshua we read,

"Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshipped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.  

But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24: 14,15.

In the above passage of scripture Joshua is telling the Israelites to make up their mind. To either follow the one true God or the gods of the Amorites. You can’t have it both ways.

Jesus said,

"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." Matthew 16:24

Thus we must decide for ourselves who we are following. The gods of this world or The Lord Almighty.

Who are you following?

Please think about it.

Loving Gods way

  Loving Gods way

The apostle Paul defines Christian love this way

“Love is patient, love is kind. 

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, 

it is not easily angered, 

it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil 

but rejoices with the truth.  

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 

Love never fails....

And now these three remain: 

faith, hope and love. 

But the greatest of these is love.”  

                                               1 Corinthians 13:4-8a,13.

This is how God loves, unconditionally. This is what we are called to do to those around us. Love them unconditionally.

So my question to you is do you love the way God loves?

Please think about it.

Quick to quarrel

  Quick to quarrel

In the book of Proverbs we read,

“It is to a man’s honor to avoid strife, 

but every fool is quick to quarrel.” 

                                                  Proverbs 20:3.

The apostle Paul states,

"If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, 

live at peace with everyone." 

                                          Romans 12:18.

It is up to us as believers in Christ Jesus to live a peaceful life with those around us. We will never win a soul for Christ by quarrelling with them. 

It is not our job to quarrel with anyone. As believers we are to present the word of God to others and let them make the decision for themselves. 

When you present the Gospel of Christ to others are you quarrelling with them, or are you simply presenting what you believe to them?

Please think about it. 

They knew Jesus

  They Knew Jesus

The Apostle Peter wrote,

We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.  

For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”  

We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.” 2 Peter 1:19-18.

Peter who was with Jesus throughout his earthly ministry, witnessed the miraculous things that happened. And he told anyone who would listen about Jesus. 

He makes it clear “we did not follow cleverly invented stories” 

From my perspective why would Peter and the other Apostles make up stories. Most of the new testament was made within living memory. And such stories could have been called out as fake.

Even today Christians all over the world believe what is in the Bible. And in the new testament in particular telling lies would be counterintuitive to the building up Christianity. The apostle Paul wrote,

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18.

So the question come down to. Do you believe what is said in the Bible? Do you believe Jesus is God incarnate the Saviour of mankind?

Please think about it. 

Show me, teach me

  Show me, teach me

In the book of Psalms we read,

"Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Saviour, and my hope is in you all day long." Psalm 25:4,5.

If you believe this then you need to be praying and studying the Bible. You need to join with other believers asking God to show you his precepts. And you need to be asking God how you can live a life in a way that is pleasing to Him.

Are you doing this?

Please think about it.

God made flesh

 God made flesh

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  

He was with God in the beginning. 

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  

In him was life, and that life was the light of men....

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. ” John 1:1-4,14.

The above quotation from the book of John is a fundamental belief of Christians. At first glance is seems outrageous but it is true.

If it were not true why would early Christians include it in the very documents they were writing to prove their faith.

The fact that the early Christians claimed that Jesus was God incarnate, God in the flesh means, at least to me, they have committed a lie so outrageous that it has fooled millions. If not billions of people through out history and in modern times. 

C. S. Lewis wrote,

"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. 

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. 

You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.

Please think about it.

Jesus is the way

  Jesus is the way

Jesus said,

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  John 14:6.

Here is what Christians believe about Jesus. He is the way to God Almighty. No one comes to the Father except through him.

This is a fundamental belief of all Christians. A belief Christians present to all people. We don’t force our faith on anyone. We simply say this is what we believe. Then leave it up to the individual to decide for themselves if they believe it or not.

Thus I leave the choice to you. Do you believe Jesus is the way to God or not?

Please think about it.

How to get to heaven, the Christian belief

  How to get to heaven, the Christian belief

In the book of Ephesians we read,

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8,9.

This is what Christians believe. It is by the grace of God, by having faith in Him that we get to heaven. 

In the book of Hebrews we read the definition of faith it states,

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for 

and certain of what we do not see."  

                                                                 Hebrews 11:1

The writer of Hebrews goes on to say.

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Hebrews 11:6.

Ultimately it is up to the individual whether they believe what is said.

But consider what Blaise Pascal wrote,

“Belief is a wise wager. Granted that faith cannot be proved, what harm will come to you if you gamble on its truth and it proves false? If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation, that He exists. Blaise Pascal.

Please think about it.

Hell will not prevail

 Hell will not prevail

The Psalmist writes,

"The fool says in his heart, 

"There is no God." 

                                     Psalm 14:1

C.S. Lewis said of Christianity,

“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.” C. S. Lewis.

For me I believe there has to be something to Christianity. We are a people who preach peace, love and living in harmony with our fellow man. We present to those who will listen to us the way we believe you get to heaven. Then leave it up to the individual to decide for themselves if we are right or wrong. 

A true Christian will never force their faith on anyone.

That being said if Christianity is untrue. If God does not exist why are some governments putting  Christians in forced labour camps?

Why wont some allow people to convert to Christianity? 

Why are atheist trying to get Christian symbols out of schools and other public places?

It seems to me if there is nothing behind the Christian faith then the symbols and practices of Christianity are meaningless.

Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate, (361-363 A.D.)  an ancient adversary of Christianity. Said in his work against Christianity:

“Jesus…has now been celebrated about three hundred years having done nothing in his lifetime worthy of fame, unless anyone thinks it is a very great work to heal lame and blind people and exorcise demoniacs in the villages of Bethsaida and Bethany.”

At the end of his life Julian was forced to say:

“Thou has conquered, O Galilean!”

Over the centuries many men and governments have come against Christianity yet none have prevailed. 

Christianity is stronger today than it has ever been and it is still growing even in countries that try to suppress it.

It continues to grow because it is of God, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

Think about it.

We are Ambassadors for Christ

 We are ambassadors for Christ

The Apostle Paul writes,

“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.  

We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.  2 Corinthians 5:18-20

As believers in Christ Jesus we should always remember what the apostle Paul is saying here

“We are therefore Christ's ambassadors,

 as though God were making his appeal through us.” 

                                                                         2 Corinthians 5:20.

If you claim to be a Christian. A true believer in Christ Jesus you must always remember you are Christs representative on this Earth. People will see Christ through what you say and do.

St. Augustine said,

"A Christian is: 

a mind through which Christ thinks, 

a heart 

through which Christ loves, 

a voice

 through which Christ speaks, 

       and

 a hand through which Christ helps" 

                                                                                St. Augustine 

Francis of Assisi put it this way,

"The deeds you do 

may be the only sermon some persons will hear today" 

                                                                              Francis of Assisi.

Thus my question, What are your words and deeds telling those around you about Christ?

Please think about it.

Seek Peace and pursue it

  Seek Peace and pursue it

The Psalmist writes,

"Come, my children, listen to me; 

I will teach you the fear of the LORD. 

Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, 

keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. 

Turn from evil and do good; 

seek peace and pursue it." 

                                                            Psalm 34:11-14.

Francis of Assisi wrote,

"Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love,

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console,

to be understood as to understand,

to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life." 

                                                                     Francis of Assisi

As Christians, as believers in Christ Jesus I think we should all do our best to live by the words of the Psalmist.  For by doing so we can make the world a better place to live.

Please think about it.