Daily Bible Verses for 9/23/2016
Bible Verse
He who oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker; but he who honors Him has mercy on the needy.
Reading Notes
God is the creator of all men, both great and small. In addition, God is also a defender of the poor. Many times the Lord will bless people with material wealth, not so we can accumulate more, but in order that we can bless those in need around us. All of us both great and small will give an account to the Lord for what we did with what God gave us. We have to remember when God looks at us and our lives, He looks at us with eternity in mind. This means God looks at how we relate to Jesus, each other and what we do with the Gospel message of salvation through faith alone in Christ alone. God also looks at how we managed the blessings He gives us in relation to the kingdom of God. Therefore, when God blesses us He does so in order that we can bless others and help further the Gospel of Jesus with our time, talents and resources.
Those who take advantage of the poor sin against God in some of the worst possible ways. They not only ignore the words of Jesus and turn their backs on those less fortunate. But they also deny the Lord’s provision and blessing by relying not on God to provide, but rather on themselves. And in the worst of cases, they rely on greed and deceit to steal from others. Those who behave this way, do so while ignoring the judgment to come. They forget that during the judgment to come, Jesus will look at how they spent their life and most of what we think are accomplishments, will be burned away as hay and stubble. This will happen for all Christians as we stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ. In addition, we have to remember, it’s one thing for those in rebellion toward God to behave this way, and quite another for a follower of Jesus to do so. We must never forget God will not long tolerate one of His children who dishonors Him and takes gain from others by deceit. To behave this way, hurts our witness for Jesus, our Lord and opens us up to God’s discipline.