Remember The Poor

I love reading about the New Testament Church. I love hearing about the amazing miracles that were happening, but even more gaining an understanding of what their values were.One such story involves Paul. He heads to Jerusalem to sort out some issues. When he gets there he begins sharing what God is doing.There were those that questioned the theology of what was occurring,Others were interested in how these events fit the prophetic revelation that they have,Others were amazed by the incredible signs and wonders,Still others are interested in how the leadership was going…But when Paul recounts this journey in Galatians he sums up what the leadership insisted,

“They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do.” (Galatians 2:10)

When we look at the modern day church we can see different churches with different emphasis. Some love the miracles, others sound doctrine and Biblical discussions, others are fantastic at moving in the supernatural, and some churches are excellent at growing and empowering leaders.All these things are great and necessary to go after. But I love how the early church leaders valued the poor. This shouldn’t be a surprise. Jesus said the poor were blessed. He said that whatever we do to the poor we do to Him. Therefore, as Jesus followers the poor are very important people.No matter what our emphasis is, or what God is revealing to our communities, His heart for the poor remains the same. God is love and He desperately wants the poor to know life in all it's fullness.More…How will you remember the poor this week? May I make one suggestion? Last week I started working at Compassion who do an amazing job at releasing kids from poverty in Jesus name. Check out their website here and have a pray about sponsoring a child and changing the life of one or more kids.