A Season of Giving:
Isaiah 58: 6 - 12
Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter -
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear gaurd.
Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help and he will say:
Here am I.
"If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness
and your night will become like noonday.
The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up age old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets and Dwellings."
Matthew 25:31-46
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all
the angels with him, he will sit on his throne
in heavenly glory. All the nations will be
gathered before him, and he will separate the people
one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep
from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right
and the goats on his left.
Then the king will say to those on his right
"Come, you who are blessed by my father; take your
inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the
creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave
me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me
something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited
me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick
and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came
to visit me."
Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when did we
see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you
something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and
invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When
did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?
The King will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever
you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you
did for me.
Then he will say to those on his left, "Depart from me
you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for
the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave
me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing
to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in,
I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick
and in prison, and you did not look after me."
They will also answer,"Lord, when did we see you hungry
or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in
prison, and did not help you?
He will reply,"I tell you the truth, whatever you did not
do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.
Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the
righteous to eternal life.
James 2:14-17
What good is it my brothers, if a man claims to have faith
but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother
or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you
says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed."
but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by
action, is dead.
:)
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