Monday, February 26
Read: Psalms 107:6-9 Then, in your desperate condition, you called out to GOD. He got you out in the nick of time; He put your feet on a wonderful road that took you straight to a good place to live. So thank GOD for his marvelous love, for his miracle mercy to the children he loves. He poured great draughts of water down parched throats; the starved and hungry got plenty to eat.
Consider : God models for us how we are to act in the world. “Be ye perfect,” Jesus says. What are the roads in your life which will lead you to acts of compassion?
Pray: For the 1 in 3 adults working full-time in NC who make less than poverty wages.
Tuesday, February 27
Read: Isaiah 49:9-11 I tell prisoners, 'Come on out. You're free!' and those huddled in fear, 'It's all right. It's safe now.' There'll be foodstands along all the roads, picnics on all the hills -- Nobody hungry, nobody thirsty, shade from the sun, shelter from the wind, For the Compassionate One guides them, takes them to the best springs. I'll make all my mountains into roads, turn them into a superhighway.
Consider : It is not God’s will that there be hunger in our world; and yet, here in the wealthiest nation in the history of the world, there are those who are food insecure. If God desires that there be nobody hungry or thirsty, and if it is true that we are incredibly wealthy, what does that mean to us?
Pray: For Juwan who hates snow days because they mean no lunch at school.
Wednesday, February 28
Read: 1 John 2:3-7 Here's how we can be sure that we know God in the right way: Keep his commandments. If someone claims, "I know him well!" but doesn't keep his commandments, he's obviously a liar. His life doesn't match his words. But the one who keeps God's word is the person in whom we see God's mature love. This is the only way to be sure we're in God. Anyone who claims to be intimate with God ought to live the same kind of life Jesus lived.
My dear friends, I'm not writing anything new here. This is the oldest commandment in the book, and you've known it from day one. It's always been implicit in the Message you've heard.
Consider : It is a rare mother who is not willing to suffer for the good of her children. This is a portrait of pure love, this willingness to sacrifice for the life of the other. Jesus sacrificed all for us. What are we willing to sacrifice for the poor among us?
Pray: For Mary who skips supper so her children can have enough to eat.
Thursday, March 1
Read: John 12:8 You always have the poor with you. You don't always have me."
Consider : Often we believe that poverty is an inevitable consequence of life, that even Jesus understands that there is nothing we can do in the face of certain circumstance. And yet, because Jesus walked among us and showed us how to love, that same love is required from us as we embrace the poor among us. How might you anoint Jesus with oil?
Pray: For Harvey who buys groceries instead of visiting the dentist with a bad toothache.
Friday, March 2
Read: Luke 10:6-9 If your greeting is received, then it's a good place to stay. But if it's not received, take it back and get out. Don't impose yourself. "Stay at one home, taking your meals there, for a worker deserves three square meals. Don't move from house to house, looking for the best cook in town. "When you enter a town and are received, eat what they set before you, heal anyone who is sick, and tell them, 'God's kingdom is right on your doorstep!'”
Consider: God has much to say about the value and necessity of honorable work done rightly, about work that brings life and uplifts the soul, about work that in some way builds God’s Kingdom. When work is denied, when there is no way to make one’s way, the spirit suffers, mental health suffers, the whole of one’s being suffers. Society suffers. The community suffers. God’s intention, God’s justice, God’s will is that there be justice, a livable wage, a life-giving work place, and three squares each day. This is important to God, and God chooses that it also be important to us. In the Kingdom, love demands justice. In the Kingdom, when one suffers, so do we all. What can you do to advocate for livable wage jobs? What can you do in your daily life, your economic choices, and your daily purchases to bring about justice and claim the Kingdom?
Pray: For Charles who lost his job when his factory shut down.
Saturday, March 3
Read: Lam 4:3-6 Even wild jackals nurture their babies, give them their breasts to suckle. But my people have turned cruel to their babies, like an ostrich in the wilderness. Babies have nothing to drink. Their tongues stick to the roofs of their mouths. Little children ask for bread but no one gives them so much as a crust. People used to the finest cuisine forage for food in the streets. People used to the latest in fashions pick through the trash for something to wear. The evil guilt of my dear people was worse than the sin of Sodom-- The city was destroyed in a flash, and no one around to help.
Consider : The measure of the people’s adherence to God’s justice always seems tied to the manner in which God’s people respond to those who can least fend for themselves. In what ways does our nation fail to embrace the justice of God? In what ways do we proclaim such justice?
Pray: For Amy Sue who is one of the over 28% of the children and youth in Robeson County living in poverty.
Action: Offer a gift to God of 28 cents, one penny for each percentage point of the poor children in Robeson County. (What is the percentage of children and youth living in poverty in your county?)
