the gift of service...better than anything store bought....

Good morning my blog buddies:) I pray the day is off to a good start and that something or someone touches your heart today giving you a reason to smile and feel warm and fuzzy inside. It is a bit colder here this morning, the sun is out and if you are on the inside looking out it is so inviting, looks like a shorts and flip flop kind of day but when you step out it does not take long to realize it is a coat and boot kind of day. Funny how things appear one way but in reality it is totally something different.

In prayer this morning as I sat in the quiet dark of my home, the glow of the Christmas tree lights setting the mood for a nice cozy chat with my Father in Heaven, I prayed for each of you asking God to feel your needs and to provide accordingly. I know so many who are depressed because there is no money in the budget for gifts this year...I being one of them. The depression I feel really has nothing to do with the gift giving though, it has to do with the lack of ability to give service to those in need. When my health began to decline I could no longer go and do as I always have been used to, I could not clean that friends house who was overwhelmed and depressed, I could not just run and jump in the car to drive to a friend who is in need of a shoulder to cry on, I can not run to the market and pick up that gallon of mild someone is needing for their kiddos...I am basically unable to do anything but feel the needs of others and pray that their is someone who will intercede and help out. I pray that during the next few weeks that you will relax with the gift shopping and look at the needs of others, is there someone you know that could use a little help in getting their yard tidied up and maybe decorated for the holidays, is there someone you know that needs a little hand with organizing their kitchen, bedroom, bathroom etc....is there a friend who is behind on laundry and feeling as if they will never catch up that you could assist, is there someone you know that can't get out much that you could take time and take for a ride, is there someone who would just love for you to take an hour of your time to sit down and chat over a cup of coffee or a cold drink, is there a new mommy that just needs a little time away that you could go and sit with her baby, is there a couple that would like to go out on a date without taking their kids? Look around folks there is need everywhere, so many are struggling, so many just need a friend, so many are lost and alone....don't you think your service to them would be worth more than that little gift you have in mind of spending money on? This season, give the gift of love and of yourself, I promise it will be much more memorable and you will feel so good when the deed is done, it will be talked about for years to come and the goodness with never be forgotten. Call someone today and see if there is anything they are in need of, many will let pride get in the way and say "no" but look a little deeper, there is always something that someone is in need of, be that forceful person that "takes the bull by the horns" and does it anyway. 

Love to you and yours today, and it is never to early to allow your kids to join in service giving, it will mold them and make them more aware of the needs around them. There is scripture throughout the bible that speaks to the heart about giving, scripture upon scripture, if this was not a priority from our Father in Heaven I do not think the bible would be filled with it. Think about what is important, read these verses and let your heart be led by them. 

 44 Bible Verses about

Helping Those In Need

  

Acts 20:35 ESV

In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Proverbs 19:17 ESV

Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.

Matthew 25:35-40 ESV

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ ...

Galatians 6:2 ESV

Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Deuteronomy 15:11 ESV

For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’

Matthew 5:42 ESV 

Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

Luke 6:38 ESV 

Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

Proverbs 14:31 ESV

Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.

Luke 12:33-34 ESV

Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Proverbs 22:9 ESV 

Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor.

Proverbs 28:27 ESV

Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse.

Isaiah 25:4 ESV 

For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,

Acts 20:35-38 ESV

In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.

1 John 4:7-8 ESV 

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Matthew 10:8 ESV 

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay.

Matthew 6:24 ESV 

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

James 1:27 ESV

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Mark 10:21 ESV

And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

Acts 9:32-43 ESV

Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who was paralyzed. And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose. And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. Now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas. She was full of good works and acts of charity. ...

Mark 12:31 ESV

The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Matthew 5:1-48 ESV

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. ...

Galatians 2:10 ESV 

Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.

Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Psalm 82:4 ESV

Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

2 Corinthians 8:9 ESV 

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

John 3:16-17 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

1 Peter 1:22 ESV

Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,

Job 30:25 ESV

Did not I weep for him whose day was hard? Was not my soul grieved for the needy?

James 1:1-27 ESV 

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. ...

Galatians 6:7-9 ESV

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Jeremiah 18:1-7 ESV 

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words.” So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. Then the word of the Lord came to me: ...

2 Corinthians 9:12 ESV

For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.

Luke 16:1-31 ESV

He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ...

Isaiah 1:1-31 ESV

The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. ...

Ephesians 2:1-22 ESV

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ...

Ephesians 5:20 ESV

Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Luke 10:25-37 ESV

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” ...

Ezekiel 23:20 ESV

And lusted after her paramours there, whose members were like those of donkeys, and whose issue was like that of horses.

Matthew 19:24 ESV

Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

Matthew 26:11 ESV

For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.

Psalm 118:7 ESV

The Lord is on my side as my helper; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.

Leviticus 19:9-10 ESV 

“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.

John 3:16 ESV 

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

2 Corinthians 8:9-11 ESV

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. And in this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have.