Isaiah 58:7-8 Say: “my bread”. When I give to the poor and share my bread with them, my righteousness shall go before me and the Glory of the Lord will be my rear guard.

It says: “share your bread with the hungry”. It’s speaking of a level of people that don’t even have to eat. David said: “this poor man, cried. David was poor, but he cried unto the Lord, and He raised him and made him wealthy. Who can make a poor person, wealthy? God. But you must first, cry unto Him!

Mark 14:3-5 “And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard. Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head. But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, “Why was this fragrant oil wasted? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they criticized her sharply.

Everytime the church has wanted to do something, the by-line normally shuffled around is: Why don’t they just give it to the poor? It is given to the poor, but through work.

Mark 14:6-7 But Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. When will we ever run out of poor people? Never.

The poor. How long shall we have them? As long as they want to stay that way. In the greek it means, “desire, will, determination”. What Jesus was teaching concerning the poor, is that anytime you want to and feel like giving to the poor, do it. But they weren’t always going to have Jesus with them like that. We’re always going to have opportunities to give to the poor.

We all have an internal desire to help someone else. How many have ever wanted to have more, in order to help more? Jesus is the one that places that desire there. God gave His Son Jesus for you. How many believe Jesus is the most valuable possession God has?

So basically, God’s saying: “If I gave you my Son, don’t you think I can give you a house, a car, health? But how are you treating the Son? If you don’t bless Him, if you don’t commit to Him, if you don’t serve Him, then you’re not treating Him correctly.
But if you treat Him correctly, then God knows He can give you everything else, because you’re treating His most prized possession, right.

Ephesians 4:22-27 “that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another. “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.

Do you know what opens the door to the devil? Anger. This is like a drunk. If you know it’s like that, then stop drinking that wine and start drinking the wine of the Holy Spirit.

I thought I’d never get married, because of how ill-tempered I was. It was horrible. I could barely stand my own self. But people like this suffer loneliness. Why don’t you ask God to change your character.

Vrs. 28….He who stole, steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give to him that is in need.

Who’s this command for? For he that stole. If you haven’t stolen, then you are to give to the needy. But if you’ve stolen, then you are commanded by God to give to the needy always. Because you are to give back to the people, what you’ve stolen. Now, if you’ve stolen tithes and offerings, than in addition to that, give to the needy, that it might go well with you in the earth.

Proverbs 19:17 “He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and He will pay him back for what he has done.” This is a difficult verse to understand. When you saw yourself for the first time, in light of the Word, you said, “Boy, I’m really messed up.” But you started to change. And when you read it again, you said, “now, I’m better”. You must go on a daily basis to the Word and continue this transformation.

When we tithe, are we lending to the Lord, or simply giving Him what’s His? But when you give to the poor, are you giving them something that belongs to God or that is yours? When you give to the poor, God says, “thanks for loaning me that, I’ll pay you back.” Is tithing a command? Yes. Are offerings a command? Yes. Is honoring your parents a command? Yes. But giving to the poor isn’t a command, it’s an opportunity God gives you.
The Bible says: “He who gives to the poor, shall not lack any good thing.” He who gives to the poor, loans to the Lord, and He’s great at paying back.