Daily Morning Message 3/15/2021

MORNING MESSAGE
March 15, 2021
by Gayle Gordon

"Oh, the joys of those who are kind to the poor! The Lord rescues them when they are in trouble.
The Lord protects them and keeps them alive. He gives them prosperity in the land and rescues them from their enemies.
The Lord nurses them when they are sick and restores them to health."
Psalm 41:1-3

"The Lord replies, “I have seen violence done to the helpless, and I have heard the groans of the poor. Now I will rise up to rescue them, as they have longed for me to do.”
Psalm 12:5 - NLT

The Lord told us, over 2,000 years ago, that "You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have Me."
Matthew 26:11, NLT

Everything Jesus accomplished in His earthly walk in the lives of people, has been reassigned to us who are bought with His blood. With the exception of being the one sacrifice that paid for all sin, He wants to live His life through us today in every particular. He dealt with poverty and experienced poverty as well. If we are truly blessed, we can identify an area where we have experienced poverty. Part of our obedience to Him is helping the poor: the economic poor, the poor in physical or mental ability, the emotionally impoverished, the poor in spirit, the poor in education - we are expected to respond to poverty as Elisha responded to the prophet's widow; "How can I help?"

"One day the widow of a member of the group of prophets came to Elisha and cried out, “My husband who served you is dead, and you know how he feared the Lord. But now a creditor has come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves.”
“What can I do to help you?” Elisha asked. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?”
“Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil,” she replied.
And Elisha said, “Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors. Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one aside when it is filled.” So she did as she was told.
Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another. Soon every container was full to the brim! “Bring me another jar,” she said to one of her sons. “There aren’t any more!” he told her.
And then the olive oil stopped flowing.
When she told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, “Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over.”
2 Kings 4:1-7 NLT

As soon as Elisha asked that question, God told him what he could do to help her. And God filled ump-teen vessels with pure, refined oil and financial security for years.

Be ready to be anointed to help the poor. God will connect you to whom He wants you to help, and show you what to do. Expect anything; He doesn't deal only in edibles or money. God will amplify your talent and compassion to suit the need. Step out and ask "What can I do?" and the Father will show you, and help you do it.

"If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord — and He will repay you!"
Proverbs 19:17 NLT