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DEVOTIONS
FOR October 13-18, 2008
Topic: Helping
and Reaching Out to Others in Need
(All facts from www.cropwalk.com)
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Spend time with the devotions this week. Read the Scriptures and then
think how you can apply them to your life.
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MONDAY
October 13
Look
up and read
Psalm 146:7
Did you know that
840 million people are undernourished worldwide?
So what can we do? Well this past Sunday many of you participated in and
supported the CROP Hunger Walk. What it stands for is Communities
Responding to Overcome Poverty where people from different
faiths, cultures, and ages walk together to take a stand against world
hunger and poverty in our world and in our communities. Even God upholds
the cause of the oppressed and giving food to the hungry. God desires that
we help those around us who are going hungry because they can’t
support themselves and their family. We should be looking for
opportunities to get more involved like the CROP Walk. It not only
raises awareness, but funds are raised and given to local hunger-fighting
agencies and to others worldwide. Spend some time in prayer today for the
world and local people that are daily struggling to eat in order to
survive. Pray also for ways that you can get involved as well as your small
group.
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TUESDAY
October 14
Look
up and read
Matthew
15:32
Did you know that
1.2 billion people in developing countries live on $1 a day or less?
So what can we do? For starters you can make a few less outings to Chick-fil-A
and collect that money you would have spent and donate it to our local
hunger-fighting agencies (Crisis Assistance Ministry, Loaves & Fishes and
Second Harvest Food Bank). I find it hard at times to understand what
others are going through when I myself haven’t dealt with it or been around
it. Jesus understood and provided for people that were hungry because he
spent time with them. He showed compassion for the hungry in Matthew 15:32.
He provides not just for a few people but for 4 thousand (after feeding the
5 thousand) and ends up with plenty of leftovers. We too can feed the
thousands if we just save our leftover change and eat out a few less meals.
Pray today for the thousands to be fed and provided for. Pray also for the
strength and desire to save your spare change and money you would have used
on meals out, to donate to our local agencies.
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WEDNESDAY
October 15
Look
up and read
Isaiah 58:7
Did you know that
70% of those who suffer from hunger are women and children?
So what can we do? Most of us have meals from a can. Maybe we could ask
our parents to get a few extra cans the next time that grocery shopping is
done and we could bring those to church and donate them to the Help Center
right here in Matthews. In Isaiah 58:7 he asks, “Is it not to share your
food with the hungry and to provide for the poor and provide the
homeless person with a place to stay and offer clothing to those who need
it, because you wouldn’t turn from your friends and family if they had need,
would you?” Jesus was always looking for ways to feed and clothe people. I
know I can do better to meet the needs of people who go hungry and give of
the clothes that I don’t wear and take up too much room in my closet. We
all can. How awesome would it be if we all cleaned out our cupboards and
our closets and just gave it away to people in need! There would be a great
many people who wouldn’t go hungry nor freeze. Meditate over this verse and
look for ways to give out of your abundance (what you have too much of or
don’t really need).
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THURSDAY
October
16
Look
up and read
Psalm 107:9
Did you know that 6
million children under the age of five die each year as a result of hunger?
What can we do to help? There are plenty of agencies out there that support
starving children across the world. Compassion International is one that
gives you the opportunity to help a child in need. Maybe this could
be something that your small group takes on and looks into supporting a
child. My wife and I have supported a little girl name Dieuniece from Haiti
for over the past 10 years. We have been able to see this little girl grow
up to be a teenager with a future. All it took was a little monthly support
($35) and taking the time to write encouraging letters. Compassion sees to
it that she was clothed, fed, provided shelter for her and her family and
educated. Our hope is that one day we will be able to go and see her, to
see what God has done in her life through our stepping out in faith to help
a child in need. God always seeks to satisfy the thirsty and fill the
hungry with good things as Psalm 107:9 states. Can we make a difference in
one child’s life? Definitely!!! Spend some time in prayer today to
consider if you and your family or your small group would consider
supporting a compassion child.
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FRIDAY
October
17
Look
up and read
Matthew
25:35
Did you know that
more than 33 million U.S. citizens-one in ten households-cannot afford to
meet their basic food needs? If they all stood in a line at a food pantry
in New York, the line would stretch to Los Angeles and back. TWICE.
What can we do to help? There are families we may pass everyday and not
realize that they are going hungry. Jackson Park is a ministry that helps
families with need. Maybe one week you and your family or your small group
could take a bag of groceries over to Jackson Park and help one of those
families. It would truly touch them in a way you could never imagine! My
wife and I have had an experience where we left a meal at a man’s house who
knew us and the next time her saw us tears of joy streamed down his face
because he said that no one, not even his closest friends and family ever
did anything like that for him. You can bring the love of Christ to
someone or a family in need. Pray today and ask God to give you the
opportunity to be Christ to someone or a family in need.
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SATURDAY
October
18
Look
up and read
John 6:35
Did you know that one
in five U.S. children is born into poverty? One in seven has no health
insurance.
What can we do to help? One United Methodist Church youth group in Castro
Valley, CA hung 29,000 individual links throughout their church that
represented the 29,000 children who die in the world each day from hunger or
hunger-related diseases. They then had a weekend long event where teens and
others in the church committed to a 30-hour fast and ended with Services on
Sunday that had song and dance, dramatic readings, musical solos, a sign
language production and famine videos. We could do something like this in
our own church! Can you imagine seeing 29,000 brightly colored links hung
throughout our church and people getting together to commit to a 30-hour
fast and then end the weekend with amazing worship and taking up a
collection for world and local hunger? Jesus not only provides for our
physical hunger, he meets our spiritual hunger and thirst as well. In
John 6:35 he declares that He is the “bread of life” and that if anyone
would come to Him they would never go hungry and if anyone would believe in
Him they would never go thirsty. Meditate over this verse and ask God to
put it on the hearts of others that something like this would be possible
through our church, maybe even our youth group!
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See you at Sunday
School, Worship and Youth Fellowship this Sunday!
Bible references provided by
www.biblegateway.com
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