Showing posts with label widows. Show all posts
Showing posts with label widows. Show all posts

Saturday 2 September 2017

James 1:27



I just finished reading a very good book entitled, “Speak Life,” by Brady Boyd. His message is how we need to learn how to speak only that which is good. I learned a lot from this book.

 But one of the most moving parts of this book for me was when Boyd wrote about how God impressed him to follow James 1:27. This is something all churches should do. To help widows and orphans is something God asks from us all through the Bible, in the Old Testament as well as the New. This is the first time I have ever read of a church making concrete decisions on this verse and my heart was lifted up in joy and thanksgiving. Here is an excerpt from the book:

“Many years prior, during a quiet time with the Lord, he sealed a verse in my mind and heart that would direct my ministry endeavors for decades to come. The verse was James 1:27, which says, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

I’d read and re-read that verse, I’d memorized it, and I’d preached on the fact that those words were my official “life verse,” and yet during the darkest moments of my ministry, I’d forgotten what that verse instructed me to do.

I now know that whenever I can’t hear the voice of God, it would serve me well to review the last input I received from him to see whether I’ve tied up all the loose ends…


So, as a church, we opened a health clinic for under-insured moms; we launched an effort to find every orphan in the care of the State of Colorado a loving Christian home; and we purchased and renovated an apartment complex so that single moms and their children would have a safe, clean place to live rather than living on the streets or in the backs of their cars. Only then could I expect God to chat with me again – only after I’d fulfilled the instructions he’d already sent my way.”

What a blessing from God this church is! There are so many homeless and people without hope out on the streets. It would be wonderful if many churches followed Brady Boyd's compassionate outreach. I do know there are many churches that give food and needed items away. What a blessing they are to the poor or homeless!




Thursday 15 October 2015

Cheating People? A Terrible Sin in God's Eyes.


Who is God?

"This is what the LORD of Heaven's Armies says: Judge fairly, and show mercy and kindness to one another. do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.”  

"Your ancestors refused to listen to this message. They stubbornly turned away and put their fingers in their ears to keep from hearing."   Zechariah 7:9-11

Jesus said, "Yet they (religious rulers) shamelessly cheat widows out of their property and then pretend to be pious by making long prayers in public. Because of this, they will be more severely punished."
Mark 12:40

"Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you."   James 1:27

Who am I?

My grandmother, who was poor, was cheated out of the bulk of her father's estate by the banker. God saw what that rich man did and I wouldn't want to be him in the judgement.

My mother was cheated by her sister out of an estate. She could have fought it in court, but decided to let it go and trust God. God has taken care of my mother very well.

The man who ran the food bank in my town stole all the money that was donated. He robbed from the poor.

I love the laws, or rules, of God. The result of obeying them brings happiness to everyone. Sometimes people who believe the laws of the 10 commandments still apply are called, "legalistic." That can be true if a person relies on obeying them to be saved. We are not saved by anthing good we do.

But, looking at the law, you can see the love of God clearly. He doesn't want us to hurt anyone and he doesn't want us to love the world. The only way to do that is by obeying the first commandments, which tell us to worship and believe in God. He will keep us from hurting people and loving the world.

Jesus said, "Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you."  1John 2:15