In this season of Thanksgiving, let us remember the poor in our midst; in our workplaces, neighbourhoods, communities, etc..

“For the poor will never cease from the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and your needy, in your land.”
Deuteronomy 15:11 NKJV

There Is A Lazarus At Your Gate was published midyear 2016. I trust that it will bless you.

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A Good Nigerian felt empathy for a beggar she saw on her way to work each morning. She thought to herself that this guy is not exactly handicapped in anyway, he had complete and functional limbs. The only obvious limitation was that he limped on crutches on one leg….”He could at least operate a sewing a machine’, she thought.

So one day, she stopped by this beggar and offered to buy him a sewing machine as well as sponsor him to learn sewing at a Tailoring Outfit. But to her surprise, the guy turned down the offer, preferring his begging job to gaining tailoring skills!

That is not the beggar described in Luke 16: 19-21

“There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table.” (The Maxwell Leadership Bible).

That portion of scripture does NOT also refer to the beggar I saw on my way to work one morning fully engrossed in straightening out and counting notes of money most likely accrued from the previous day’s ‘job’. Like a male lizard, he has defined his begging territory and all other beggars in the neighborhood knew the boundary! I could see no obvious limiting deformity on him to necessitate his chosen career.

It is a bad thing to be unable to provide for your basic needs and resort to begging, nobody wants to be in that state. But it is worse to be the beggar with generalized body sores that are obviously open and have become nesting spots for flies.

I can admire dogs from afar but please don’t give one to me as a gift! All attempts by my children to convince me to buy a puppy as pet have continuously failed. They have my blessings to build dog house(s) in their personal homes as adults and grow as many dogs as they like. Only thing is, nobody should expect me to come over for ‘Omugwo’ (babysitting) except all dogs are nicely chained out of sight! 🙂

So maybe you can appreciate my difficulty with understanding how one can be so poor, sick and disabled to the point that dogs licked his sores. If Lazarus had a phobia for dogs like I do, then he must have been further tortured with each lick…..

I have not seen a beggar in such deplorable state of health as Lazarus in my entire life. Oh! but I have certainly seen poor widows struggling with 2 kids without a husband around to help and they celebrate a $10 gift as though they won a lottery.

I have come across a young lady with 2 preteens and a toddler, who helps working mums with grocery shopping for a small fee, just to make ends meet because her husband has just suffered a temporary setback at work. Any additional money she receives just lightens her mood.

I have been in a group where a sick, homeless, and sexually abused teenage boy is picked off the streets and given hope, improved health and better outlook on life.

I have come across young women almost walking naked to Church either because they cannot afford or would not buy decent clothing to cover up properly and find that they can actually dress decently if someone provides decent clothing for them. I have met the brother whose wife is about to go in for a surgery and they have no money. He becomes more confident in his faith in God to provide when a surprising credit alert hits his bank account from a brethren.

I have met the woman whose baby died in-utero and as if that was not bad enough, the doctors tell her she needs to have a C-Section to deliver the fetus! Not only does she not have the money for the surgery, she is at the brink of becoming depressed just thinking about her ordeal. Her faith is encouraged when someone stands in the gap for her in prayer to expel the dead fetus without surgery and also help clear her hospital bill.

I have also met the father of 2 who is looking for assistance with his children’s fees, only for me to realize that the fees for the 2 kids is more than $20.

I have met some young men, fully dedicated to church activities and growing daily in their knowledge of God, but who sometimes have a little challenge paying their transport fares to church. They need to continue hearing God’s word to properly apply their faith for a more secured future!

There is a Lazarus at your gate!! Have you located him/her?

If every rich or ‘comfortable’ member of a Church can identify (by God’s spirit and leading) 5-10 ‘Lazarus” in their sphere or circle, the Church will make more impact. You don’t really have to write a letter to your leader or Pastor indicating your interest to support a family except it is absolutely necessary. Identify a family (or persons) to support and over time you build confidence in them that they can come to you for help or assistance.

Do you really need an addition to the fleet of car parked in your garage? Do you really need to buy another shade of yellow purse when the one you have can still pass?

A lady sent utter shock down my spine one day when she shamelessly mentioned in a salon that the weavon on her hair cost nothing less than $1000!! Only $5 from that money can turn someone’s life around for good.

The reason Lazarus was located at the rich man’s gate was because those that dropped him there knew the rich man had the required resources to help him.

You can help someone today and that someone is located at your gate (around you).

I have some very ‘uncommon’ friends in church. They are not in the very rich and affluent class. And no, they are not ‘the designer bags carrying crew’ neither are they ‘the SUV display group’. They are the people that are always excited to see me because last month or last 2 months, they received a heart warming gift from me and their gratitude have not expired.  I love to see this group always!!!     Infact, one time the devil missed his bus stop and stopped in my neigbourhood with some strange sickness. This group automatically became a prayer team for me. They called, they prayed and they prayed. Again I say, I love this group!!

Reminds me of the story of Dorcas in Acts 9:36-40.

“At Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas. This woman was FULL of good works and CHARITABLE deeds which she did. But it happened in those days that she became sick and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. And since Lydda was near Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent two men to him, imploring him not to delay in coming to them. When he had come, they brought him to the upper room. And all the WIDOWs stood by him weeping, showing the tunics and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them. But Peter put them all out, and knelt down and prayed . And turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise”. And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up”  (New King James Version).

Do you not want the fame and experience of Dorcas?

I love it.

May God help us all.

Except otherwise stated, all Bible quotations are from The Maxwell Leadership Bible. And N199 corresponds to $1 as at the time of publishing. 

As a Christian, I don’t believe in coincidences. My steps are ordered by the Lord. I therefore believe that God sends people my way to bless me (in different ramifications) or for me to bless. And every opportunity to express our love and gratitude to God can translate into an opportunity for increase.

One of my recent blog posts  ‘Things that do not satisfy‘,  was concluded stating that God wants to take care of us Himself and we can buy without money.

Well, in this blog post, I share how to become a money belt or money bag in God’s Kingdom. And I tell you even I am learning this as I write…

A money bag can mean a bag for holding money, it can mean a very wealthy person or it may often represent a rich extravagant person.

While we want to play down on negative extravagance, being very wealthy or very rich remains an ultimate goal for most people.

One thing I am learning  though is that until one’s wealth or riches spills over to others, that person is not truly rich.

I got all so excited as I read through Luke 12:33

“Sell your possessions (show compassion) and give {donations} to the poor. Provide money belts for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing and inexhaustible treasure in the heavens, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.” Amplified Bible Version.

How many times did Jesus Christ say to a self-acclaimed rich or righteous persons; ‘go sell all you have and give to the poor”?

We find that in

Question: what is the relationship between giving to the poor and being rich, righteous or honorable?

Three portions of scripture come to the rescue…

“He has given freely to the poor, His righteousness endures forever; his horn will be exalted in honor.” Psalm 112:9

“If a king faithfully and truthfully judges the poor, his throne shall be established forever.”     Proverbs 29:14

“So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “you still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Luke 18:22

We all know how the story of the self-acclaimed rich guy in Luke 18:22-25 ended. Jesus likened the possibility of a rich man entering heaven to the impossible task of attempting to pass a Carmel through the eye of a needle. Why? Is being rich a bad thing? No! But being possessive and defined by one’s wealth is surely destructive. We must learn a good lesson from the rich man of Luke 12:20.

So, who qualifies as ‘poor’?

The simple definition below of ‘poor’ is from the Merriam-Webster Thesaurus;

“lacking money or material possessions“.  And synonyms for ‘poor’ include; beggarly, broke, down-and-out, famished, impoverished, needy, penniless, poverty-stricken etc

This definition and list of synonyms sure paints a picture of somebody in our minds as we read through them. And you are right! That person is your ‘poor’.

Isn’t it troubling how we often organize big classy societal occasions or reception, identify our guests before hand with a gate pass or personalized invitation card, not just for security reasons, but to make sure riffraff, beggars, the hungry looking ones do not stray in and embarrass us before our highly esteemed guests.

Well, see what Jesus advised in Luke 14:13;

“But when you give a banquet or a reception, invite the poor, the disabled, the lame and the blind.”

Poor people matter to God and Jesus Christ communicated that much to His followers. In fact, I think (my personal thoughts) that of all kinds of giving mentioned in the New Testament; giving of alms, tithing and offering, giving to those that minister spiritual things to us (local pastors/shepherds) and sharing with one another (giving to other people especially those of the family of God), Jesus Christ seemed to have laid more emphasis on giving to the poor.

Yes, I hear your question: ‘What happens to tithing’? Like I’ve stated before, the tithe is an obligation, and does not count as an offering. You just give your tithe so that God’s work goes on. If a Christian refuses to tithe, then such a person has taken to himself the title of a ‘God-robber’ (Malachi 3).

Permit me to share with you one of my favorite portions of scripture; Matthew 23:23

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.”

So, Jesus Christ expects us to pay our tithe. In fact, reading Matthew 23:23 over and again, it’s almost as if Jesus Christ took it for granted that the tithe is paid. Tithing wasn’t His focus in that scripture. He already assumed tithes were paid without struggle, hence His emphasis on justice, mercy and faith.

Giving to the poor is an act of mercy and faith. It can become an expression of justice if you reason that you are wealthy or rich so you can help others. So it’s a just and fair thing for a comfortable-you to give to the poor around you.

See what Apostle Paul says to us in 2 Corinthians 9:9, quoting Psalm 112:9 which we read earlier;

“As it is written and forever remains written, “He {the benevolent and generous person} SCATTERED ABROAD, HE GAVE TO THE POOR, HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS ENDURES FOREVER“.  Amplified Bible Version.

I meet some Christians who have started feeling like their receiving is not quite commensurate with their giving. They say they are faithful tithers, they give to their men of God and other ‘powerful’ men of God, they give all sorts of offerings to the church etc etc…

Great! But maybe like Jesus Christ said to that rich man, …….you still lack one thing……..’Give to the poor around you’ and do not stop scattering your seed abroad. For surely, you’ll become a money bag/belt,  you will abound and have abundance for every good work, you will have great indestructible treasures in heaven, and your righteousness will endure forever.

Don’t tell me now that you are poor and have nothing to give.  Find someone poorer than you are, give, and walk yourself out of poverty.

Praise God forever!

Like Jesus said, the poor will never cease from the land. There will always be poor people whether by choice or through ignorance. Christ expects us to give to them.