When you help the poor

and needy don’t do it for public recognition.

Read the following verses.  Think and pray about the verse that applies the most to your life.

Matthew 6:2-4 (Jesus said) “When you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Matthew 23:5-6 (Jesus said) “Everything they do is done for show…they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the reserved pews in the synagogue!”

Luke 16:15 (Jesus said) “You wear a noble, pious expression in public, but God knows your evil hearts. Your pretense brings you honor from the people, but it is an abomination in the sight of God.”

John 5:44 You gladly honor each other, but you don’t care about the honor that comes from the only God!

John 12:43 They loved praise from men more than praise from God.

He who bestows his goods upon the poor

shall have as much again, and ten times more.

John Bunyan

Prosperity inebriates men, so that

they take delights in their own merits.

John Calvin

Birthday Presents For Jesus At Christmas

Every Christmas, my family would read the Bible story about Jesus’ birth before our children got to open their Christmas presents. We would always remind them it was Jesus’ birthday we were celebrating. But last year, we realized if it's Jesus’ birthday we're celebrating, why aren’t we giving any gifts to Jesus? The Bible says when you give to the least of these, you're giving to the LORD. So, this past Christmas, we gave each of our children a specific amount of money, which was worth far more than the Christmas presents they'd be opening in a few minutes. We then gave them a list of needy people and missionaries. Each of them had to then choose and tell everyone how they were going to give the money they had as a Christmas present to Jesus. Afterwards, we opened our gifts.

This is a true story in a series of radio spots by Brian Kluth of www.GiveWithJoy.org and www.kluth.org

Bible Reading | 1 min True Story/Audio | Cartoon | Week # 1 Questions, Article, & Worksheet

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