Glory Seed Devotional’s, 2017: Anticipating and Experiencing Jehovah-Jireh...
All is not as it seems...
Shalom!
“You always have the poor with you, and you can do what is good for them whenever you want, but you do not always have Me.” (Mark 14:7, HCSB)
Once upon a time not really that long ago in his grandmother’s kitchen not far from here a little boy opened up a cupboard and proceeded to methodically remove all the labels from the canned food. I remember my mom laughing and saying she never knew what they would be preparing to fix for lunch or supper. At the heart of that humerus and true story lies a much deeper and true story. It is unfortunate that we are guilty of placing labels on ourselves and others that need to be removed. One such label is the label of being poor.
The lyrics of a song is going through my mind, ”Sometimes a pauper is richer by far,” I can’t remember the name of the song nor can I remember any more of the lyrics just those seven words. But they remind me that every woman, man, and child in the world could have unlimited financial resources and there still would be those who living in poverty. Author Kathryn J. Hermes writes, “In the Gospel we read instead a story of chosen weakness, glorified poverty, exalted lowliness. God will never take away our inner poverty, for then he would take away exactly what we need to depend on him. He wants us to realize that we can’t achieve salvation and grow in contemplation by ourselves. Actually, we will get absolutely nowhere by ourselves.”
There is actually another label we place on ourselves and others and that label is the being rich. The falseness of the label of being rich comes to life when you look at our money and see the picture of a dead president. “God will never take away our inner poverty,” because that is the “rich fertile soil” in which He plants His greatest blessings. “The poor in spirit are blessed, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.” (Matthew 5:3, HCSB)
Being poor is never a good thing and like Jesus said, “you can do what is good for them whenever you want,” but by placing labels on those who appear to be poor we are labeling ourselves and saying much more about ourselves at the time.
Sometimes those who are poor are richer then those who are rich, and sometimes those who are rich are poorer then those who are poor. All is not how it seems! Oh, there is one more label that both the poor and the rich need to remove, and that is the label of pride.
Whosoever resides in God’s heart though they may become poor will never live in poverty, they will live in the riches of God’s never ending Grace!
“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”**
GRACE and PEACE,
Gary
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Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.
Hermes, K. J. (2009). Beginning Contemplative Prayer: Out of Chaos into Quiet (p. 29). Boston, MA: Pauline Books & Media.
**Romans 15:13, HCSB
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