Pointing Fingers

Ps. 136: 25 Who giveth food to all flesh: for his mercy endureth for ever.
***

After yesterdays post, I could feel the fingers pointing, the mouths hanging open, whispering sounds, “You were on welfare?”

I’ve known many people who should BE on assistance but they don’t because of pride. Pride holds people back from many things and when you get the haughty attitude in life, you are missing a main element in your human existence; compassion, meekness.

“I’m not going to lower myself and go THERE” they say, while slopping up oats, or mac and cheese, for the 28th day of the month. When you don’t have a child, I guess you and your pride can stand on the pedestal thinking yourself really something way up there, above everyone else. Looking down on the lowly, meek and humble.

“HaH, look at me, I’m way up here and you, you have lowered yourself and will sit in that welfare office with all those stinky people who have absolutely nothing.” They have absolutely nothing? Really? I don’t see it that way. I see them as having MORE than you and as human beings who need food and are willing to go and get it, even if that means, shaking off the prideful attitude, humbling themselves and standing in line for hours at our government offices, and going home with food. Real food, delicious healthy food that will strengthen and nourish their bodies.

Meals on Wheels, food assistance to the elderly. Would you stand on your pedestal and deprive the elderly of a meal every day? You sit there and say that the welfare offices are full of people who take advantage of the system, yet you have no idea the persons life or circumstance that caused them to be in that situation. The meals-on-wheels is no different, the elderly need food and sometimes they don’t have cars or a means to get a meal each day, but would you deprive an elderly person a meal? Then why judge and deprive anyone else who is getting a much needed meal?

Oh, I get it now, it all boils down to your ego. “I work for my meals!” or “I have a job, now YOU go find one and stop allowing taxpayers to pay for you!” Really? Is that what it is to you? You being better, you having something others don’t have, you wanting to keep it for yourself and not share it?
You’ll spew back at me, I have no ego, I just call ‘em as I see ‘em. My point exactly, YOU call it the way YOU see it. When YOU have an ego, remember your pov lessons? Ego is all about YOU.

So what we have is YOU calling yourself a Christian, and YOU depriving innocent people of food and shelter, YOU taking from the poor, to give to the what? I can’t say rich, but those just getting by, too?
 
We have greed festering and surfacing, boasting, taunting, yet you say you have no ego?

Luke 18:14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Can you imagine just for a moment the weak and lowly of the earth coming to Jesus and saying, “I’m hungry.” And Jesus scoffing and saying “Get a job! I have nothing to offer you!” You’re jaw just dropped open. Close it before the flies get in, would you? Why did your jaw drop open? Because you know that Jesus would NEVER deny any man food, and I do mean ANY man or woman. So you calling yourself a Christian and denying a man his food, is no different than your Lord and Savior turning his back on the needy.
 
We as Christians have to humble ourselves and at one point in our life, become a weak, meek, lowly person to grasp the reality of what is being taught us by Christ.  Some of us never seek to rise above humility because we’re comfortable teaching what truly needs to be taught. All I ask, is look within at YOU and see just who it is YOU serve. It's not all about YOU pointing fingers, remember that.

Pro. 13: 23 Much food is in the tillage of the poor: but there is that is destroyed for want of judgment.

Humble Yourselves

James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
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I remember a time sitting at the welfare office in Texas with hundreds of other folk in need of the same thing we needed, assistance. Things had just gotten that bad we had to resort to help from the state. In Texas you sit in the office for hours upon hours awaiting your number to be picked. If you arrived at 7 a.m when the doors open, standing in line outside in the cold, you might be lucky enough to get a number that would only leave you in the office for two hours instead of four, but if you arrived late, you were definitely going to be there until five.

Short staffed, enormous need, and a bad system left many sitting there grumbling, but many, just patiently waiting their turn. This system was for ANYTHING you needed, even if you just went to ask a question of things you needed to bring with you, you waited! One day after sitting there for an hour, a young couple came in with a baby. They didn’t look like they belonged there any more than we did. They looked at their number and after an hour I finally asked, “What number do you have?” Well the man said a number, and I KNEW it was going to be a long day for them. I handed him my number, he looked amazed.

“But it’s almost your turn.” he said. I looked at him, “God bless you.” His wife came back in, she was making a call telling her mother, I guess, that she’d be there all day. Her number was next, she looked amazed too. Her husband pointed at us. “Thank you,” she said, “Thank you so much.”

They just moved from Oklahoma, he had lost his job, and they had never been in this situation in their lives. He was telling us his story as his wife went to the counter to ask a question. She came back and they thanked us again and again. I sat there another hour but to see the smiles on all three of their faces was well worth it!

I had done that one other time to a pregnant girl who was there alone, and looked like she was going to give birth, right then and there. She was nine months and didn’t need to wait for four hours so I handed her my number.

It was a humbling experience sitting in that office and I thought of all the people who condemn and put down welfare recipients. “Nobody pays for my food,” they taunt, “Get a job!” they scream, but I assure you, if those same people lost their jobs, had no means for food, and family wasn’t forthcoming in the ‘help’ department, I can guarantee you, they would HUMBLE themselves, get into that office, and have a means for feeding their family!

Not everyone is fortunate enough to have a savings. Not everyone has the ability to help themselves, and not everyone can rely on so called ‘friends’ because they will be the first to say, “I really don’t have it this week.” This circumstance is merely a stepping stone for most people, people who have worked all their lives, paid their taxes and have fallen on hard times. You judge them because of your ignorance. Have you ever been in a welfare office to be able to actually give a proper judgment? “I wouldn’t be caught dead there!” you say, then YOU have NO RIGHT TO JUDGE!

Humbling yourselves is what God wants us to do, maybe so all the taunters can see how ‘non Christian’ they have become? Maybe God just wants you to see His handiwork at work. Not everyone in those offices are drug dealing, boozers, or multiple time pregnant women, sucking the system for all it’s worth; many are there because of NEED. They NEED food, they NEED shelter! THEY NEED COMPASSION!!! And all you people on the outside looking in are just that, looking from your glass houses. Judge not...lest YOU be judged.

James 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.