- - - - Where's our check in? - - - -

----The rich and the poor have a common bond, the LORD is the maker of them all.----

It's a wide known fact that there are rich and there are poor. There was soon after the beginning of time. It's easy to put these two into their own little groupies. The rich turn their face from the site of the poor and the poor hunger for the wealth of the rich.

How often do we blame the needy for their situation? Understandably, some who are without are at fault because of their own actions, but to put the needy in a category of someone to avoid because of their lack of cleanliness, education, or money is the wrong attitude completely. The color of a persons skin, their title or their balance in the bank has nothing to do with who they are. God made everyone, mankind, in His image. You cast out the poor and needy, homeless, fatherless and widowed, you've cast out God Himself.

He who oppresses the poor taunts his Maker, But he who is gracious to the needy honors Him. -Proverbs 14:31

The LORD protects the strangers; He supports the fatherless and the widow, But He thwarts the way of the wicked.- Psalm 146:9

You shall not afflict any widow or orphan. -Exodus 22:22

The LORD makes poor and rich; He brings low, He also exalts. -1 Samuel 2:7

I think sometimes I have a big head about the way I live, like I'm better than those in need, somehow. I don't know what I've done better than them but I look where I am and look where they are.
It's amazing how well God speaks to all feelings and thoughts humans have. He doesn't put black and white every detail of right and wrong, drawing a clear line to every area of our life, but there are definitely places He couldn't be more clear.

Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than he who is perverse in speech and is a fool. -Proverbs 19:1

There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands,
there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good; there is not even one. -Romans 3:10,11,12

"A fool". Yes, this would be where I sit a lot of the time. My actions, speech and heart aren't in the right place so often; sometimes I just want to give up all together because I know I won't ever get anything right. Just because I am a fool, doesn't mean I can't be forgiven and given new direction and a new heart for certain things. I remember always feeling sorry for people who were "poor" or in need...but about 3 years ago I went to a homeless shelter and served food. That was the first time it ever clicked that these were actually people, just like me. People who had unthinkable things happen to them that put them in the position they were in. I remember looking into the eyes of the men and women there, seeing the loneliness and desire for someone, anyone, to care; someone who wouldn't judge them for who they had become. I remember the smile on the older men's faces when they saw me smile, like they hadn't been smiled at in a long time. It broke my heart to see the longing for that in someone's eyes. Nobody should have kindness taken from their life; they shouldn't have to worry about people calling them names, think "where can I go that will be dry when it rains?" or "where will my next meal come from?"

The day mankind started thinking of endangered animals, animal cruelty and animal beatings more than they cared for the millions of people dying from lack of food, clothing and shelter...that is the day I wish someone could have seen where things were going and helped reverse what has become of it. When you see police officers being called to people's homes because animals were being treated poorly, and a homeless man being tripped over to get to the animals...goodness. What happened to caring for your neighbor?

He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor Will also cry himself and not be answered. -Proverbs 21:13

If I'm guilty of doing it once, I'm guilty of doing it a hundred times. Putting those in need after myself and what I wanted. I have more than about half the world. Family, a home, cars that run, a closet stocked with clothes, food abundant, clean water, friends who care about me... I have all of this, yet I check my watch when someone needs me. It is a cruel act indeed.

One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the LORD, and He will repay him for his good deed.- Proverbs 19:17

What is desirable in a man is his kindness, and it is better to be a poor man than a liar.- Proverbs 19:22

My friends, there are people in need in our lives right now.
When is the last time we opened our eyes to see them, and our calenders to help them? If someone were to look on our yearly calender, where would most of our time be spent? Where's our check-in?

Helping other people should make our hearts joyful! Not because we will be recognized for it, not because our name is on the news or in the papers, but because you are giving of yourself and your time to help another person in need. There should never be a time when helping your fellow man become a chore.


Jesus...show His love
Others...treat them as God would
Yourself...take care of the body and things you've been given
Fulfill...Gods plan for your life
Understanding...who we are in the eyes of God
Leading...a generation who can make a change