God’s Heart For The PoorSample
Love One Another
All around the world, people perform religious rituals in hopes of earning favor with God. They assume that doing a particular deed allows us to manipulate God. It gives us a feeling of being in control and able to earn favor with God. In this chapter of Isaiah, we learn that a self-serving ritual is not what God desires. He will not be manipulated by our religious rituals.
John 13:35 sums it up: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Our church services and ministries are to reflect the love of our heart and our worship of God. They are not to be religious self-centered rituals.
God is honored when we do right, seek justice, defend the oppressed, take up the cause of the orphan, and advocate for the widow. A compassionate, self-denial is necessary to serve God fully, expecting nothing in return. The people who need you most can never repay. Will you open your heart to serve the poor? Acts of compassion are far more honoring to God than religious rituals.
Scripture
About this Plan
The Bible tells us that God “takes up the case” of those who have been crushed. When we follow His lead, we become an advocate for the poor—doing whatever we can to fight for justice. Over the next 30 days, we’ll take a compelling look into poverty and how God has entrusted us to respond.
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We would like to thank Compassion International for providing this plan. For more information, please visit: http://www.compassion.com/513534