Daily Devotional for Wednesday December 17, 2003

Helping the poor

( Psalms 41:1 )

Helping the poor. I want to encourage you today to take about an hour, and sit down with your Bible, and look at all the scriptures concerning care for the poor and needy. One thing I have learned about God and the way that He has Divinely given us His Word, is when you see the same issue talked about over and over, especially throughout the Bible from the Old to New Testament, God is trying to emphasize a point.

He could not be clearer as to our responsibility to help the poor. Now of course, this immediately brings to mind mental images of the homeless, those begging on corners for food, the ones who occupy the shelters at night. But I want you to focus today not only on those who are financially poor, but also those who are SPIRITUALLY POOR.

Throughout Jesus' earthly ministry, He reached out to all segments of society. To those who had wealth and resources, He tried to focus them on their bankrupt spiritual life. Jesus said, "What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world, and lose his soul?" Today, I want you to be aware of the "poor" people you may come in contact with everyday. Not just those who are financially poor, but those who are spiritually poor as well.

We have a responsibility to share the Good News of Jesus Christ, the hope and love of Christ with these people just as we would share a meal with someone who was hungry. It is not an option, but an obligation that we have as followers of Christ to reach out to those who are hurting and need to know there are answers beyond the things of this world.

I am going to pray today that you take this challenge during the Christmas season to heart and really focus, not just on the visibly poor that you may see each day, but also those who may have worldly riches, but be flat broke spiritually. You see, in those difficult times that we all face in life, losing a loved one, health problems, changing jobs, troubles at home, whatever the issue may be, power, prestige, and money are not the answer.

Only the strength, wisdom, and love of Christ can get us through those most difficult times in our life. Open your eyes today and look at those around you who may need a spiritual handout today just to make it to tomorrow. God has called us to help the poor. Not just the financially poor, but also the spiritually poor!

I love you and care about you so much. I deeply appreciate your kindness, prayers and loving support of our work at Liveprayer.com. I want to encourage you today to remember us as we are moving this ministry forward. Daily over 20,000 people come to our website, we send out our Daily Devotional to over 1,800,000 email accounts worldwide, and send personals responses to over 40,000 emails daily. God has given us a great task to touch peoples lives via this Internet ministry. I cannot do it alone. I need your prayers. I need your financial help since everything that we do, including our state of the art LIVE 24/7 video/audio feed, is available for FREE.

Like all ministries, the support of friends like you makes it possible for us to do what we do each and every day. In just under 52 months, God has placed us in a position to minister on a daily basis to more people than even the largest churches and media ministries in the nation for only $30,000 a month. That is only $1,000 a day!!! I have not slowed down what we are doing, in fact, have even become more aggressive in reaching out to those who are hurting, trusting God would honor our faithfulness. YOU MAKE THAT POSSIBLE!!!

***With just 14 days left this month, we still need $19,800 to meet all of our monthly obligations. Please pray and send the best gift that you possibly can today.

God knows your heart and your financial situation. For some a sacrificial gift of $10 or $20 may be all you can do. Some may have recently been blessed and can send in $50, or $100. Some have been richly blessed and can help us today with a gift of $300, $500, $1,000, or the entire $19,800. The amount is between you and God. Pray and be obedient to give what God lays on your heart. Send the very best gift that you can today.

You can put your gift on a major credit card on a secure server at our website www.liveprayer.com under the DONATION button. We also accept money through PayPal via my email address, bkeller@liveprayer.com. Also, you can mail your gift to: Liveprayer 6660 46th Avenue North St. Petersburg, Florida 33709 Your gift to Liveprayer is 100% tax deductible.

Thank you for all that you do. I deeply care about you. Pray today about helping those who are spiritually poor in your life. Pray about standing with me today in support of our work here at Liveprayer.com that is ministering to the spiritually poor every day. It is no accident you are receiving these Devotionals each day, and no accident God is speaking to your heart right now to help. Listen and be obedient. Your gift to Liveprayer.com will help someone that is spiritually poor this Christmas!

In His love and service, Your friend and brother in Christ, Bill Keller