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Week 2
Monday, March
1
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.
Action:
Make a gift of 33 cents for the third of NC working-adults in poverty. (How
many adults who work full-time in your state live in poverty?)
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Tuesday, March
2
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.
Action:
Provide an offering of 25 cents, a nickel for each day Juwan will not eat lunch
at school.
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Wednesday,
March 3
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.
Action:
A few pennies could provide a meal for Mary’s children. Make an offering of 15
cents to feed a child.
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Thursday,
March 4
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.
Action:
In many of our homes, the tooth fairy
brings a few cents for the children. Make a gift of thirty cents toward
groceries for Harvey.
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Friday, March
5
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.
Action:
Make a gift of 40 cents to God, one
penny for each hour that Charles yearns and needs to work, but cannot.
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Saturday,
March 6
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, NC 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?)
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