HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 258
page A256
Pollution See Environment
Poor See Poverty
Potential See Hope; Opportunities
Poverty See also Dignity; Equality; Giving; Hope; Racism & Prejudice; Suffering
To be poor means that something is lacking from our lives. Often we want to correct
what is lacking. The Bible focuses primarily on two kinds of poverty—people who are in
need of basic necessities (money, food and clothing) and people who are in need of God
(lacking the Holy Spirit’s presence in their lives). We are called—commanded—to help
both kinds of people as much as we possibly can.
Does God really care about the poor?
• DE U T E R O NO MY 1 5 :7 | But if there are any poor Israelites in your towns when you arrive in
the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tightfisted toward them.
• PSA L M 7 2 :1 2 | He will rescue the poor when they cry to him; he will help the oppressed,
who have no one to defend them.
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• PSA L M 1 0 2 :1 7 | He will listen to the prayers of the destitute. He will not reject their pleas.
(See note on page 532.)
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• PSA L M 1 1 3 :6 -8 | He stoops to look down on heaven and on earth. He lifts the poor from
the dust and the needy from the garbage dump. He sets them among princes!
• I SA I A H 3 :1 5 | How dare you crush my people, grinding the faces of the poor into the
dust?” demands the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
• MAT T H E W 5 :3 | “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the
Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.”
• L U K E 4 :1 8 | “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good
News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind
will see, that the oppressed will be set free.
God cares deeply for the poor. He commands all believers to care for them too. One test
of the sincerity of your faith in God is your care for the poor. If you are poor, suffering
from a crippling disease, grieving the loss of a loved one, feeling lonely or abandoned,
or living in constant danger, your greatest hope as a believer is that this condition is
temporary. God promises that for all eternity you will be free from all trouble when you
live with him in heaven. While you may not understand why some people seem to get all
the breaks on earth, God assures you that those who love him will get all the breaks for
eternity.
• L U K E 1 :5 2 -5 3 | “He has brought down princes from their thrones and exalted the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away with empty hands.”
God’s perfect plans will one day be fully accomplished. When Jesus returns, all wrongs will
be made right. The hungry will be fed and those whose greed caused their hunger will be
judged.
What is my responsibility to the poor?
• L E V I T I C U S 2 5 :3 9 | “If one of your fellow Israelites falls into poverty and is forced to sell
himself to you, do not treat him as a slave.” (See note on page 117.)
• PR O V E R B S 1 9 :1 7 | If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord—and he will repay you!
• PR O V E R B S 2 2 :9 | Blessed are those who are generous, because they feed the poor.
• I SA I A H 5 8 :1 0 | Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out
from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.