Helping One Another Face Difficulties

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Remembering with Joy

Leviticus 25:35-38 Amplified Bible

Of Poor Countrymen

35 ‘Now if your fellow countryman becomes poor and his hand falters with you [that is, he has trouble repaying you for something], then you are to help and sustain him, [with courtesy and consideration] like [you would] a stranger or a temporary resident [without property], so that he may live among you. 36 Do not charge him usurious interest, but fear your God [with profound reverence], so your countryman may [continue to] live among you. 37 You shall not give him your money at interest, nor your food at a profit. 38 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God

For Reflection

With today's high credit card debt and interest rates that for many people border on usury, the poor are subject to yet another inhibiting and debilitating burden.  We who are not jobless, living under the poverty line, or under the average wage only have a dim understanding of how burdensome and soul devouring poverty is. The key to escaping poverty is not just getting a job if the monetary return on working is too little to support oneself or family. Any little bump which for the majority of us would be ignored, at that lower level of wealth is a catastrophe and at times a matter of life and death.


We are no stronger as a community than the weakest among us. Poverty is not a punishment for life's untoward circumstances. Poverty is our opportunity to share. Impoverishment yields only elevated social, political, criminal, economic and spiritual poverty. Helping others survive is not an option. It is an investment in our collective survival!

Pray

Make your life a living prayer for those who suffer the results of impoverishment.

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Fairness in Buying and Selling

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Remembering with Joy

Leviticus 25:13-17 Amplified Bible

13 ‘In this Year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his own [ancestral] property. 14 If you sell anything to your friend or buy from your friend, you shall not wrong one another. 15 According to the number of years after the Jubilee, you shall [a]buy from your friend. And he is to sell to you according to the number of years of crops [which may be harvested before you must restore the property to him]. 16 If the years [until the next Jubilee] are many, you shall increase the price, but if the years remaining are few, you shall reduce the price, because it is the number of crops that he is selling to you. 17 You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God [with profound reverence]; for I am the Lord your God.

For Reflection

The Year of Jubilee seems to be the Jewish reset button.  It recognizes, accepts, and confronts human error in the business dealings we have with each other.  With these passages, God wishes us to understand we do not own God's universe. We merely rent it!

How would following such a regulation in today's world change the way you deal with each other?

Pray

Pray so that all of your interactions with the people and the environment in which your life 1s based is the equitable distribution of all of God's largess.

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Bear Each Other' Burdens

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Remembering with Joy

Galatians 6:1-5 Amplified Bible (AMP)

Bear One Another’s Burdens

6 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any sin, you who are spiritual [that is, you who are responsive to the guidance of the Spirit] are to restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness [not with a sense of superiority or self-righteousness], keeping a watchful eye on yourself, so that you are not tempted as well. 2 Carry one another’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the requirements of the law of Christ [that is, the law of Christian love]. 3 For if anyone thinks he is something [special] when [in fact] he is nothing [special except in his own eyes], he deceives himself. 4 But each one must carefully scrutinize his own work [examining his actions, attitudes, and behavior], and then he can have the personal satisfaction and inner joy of doing something commendable [a]without comparing himself to another. 5 For every person will have to bear [with patience] his own burden [of faults and shortcomings for which he alone is responsible].

For Reflection

Jesus repeats the commandment found in Leviticus.  Love your neighbor and your enemy as yourself. 
This commandment is a foundation of Jewish and Christian faith. We, who believe, are asked to carry the burdens of others as though we are burdened in the same way.  We are asked not to pity or merely empathize. We are asked not to be merciful, but to act in sincere communion with each other and with God. In this way, each of us is elevated to approach human perfection.

Pray

Pray so that you can see as God sees the burdens of others.  Pray so that you have the grace and wisdom to help carry each other's loads.  Pray that you will love as God loves and comfort as God comforts. 

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Share with All

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Remembering with Joy

Acts 4:32-37 Amplified Bible

Sharing among Believers

32 Now the company of believers was of one heart and soul, and not one [of them] claimed that anything belonging to him was [exclusively] his own, but everything was common property and for the use of all. 33 And with great ability and power the apostles were continuously testifying to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace [God’s remarkable lovingkindness and favor and goodwill] rested richly upon them all. 34 There was not a needy person among them, because those who were owners of land or houses were selling them, and bringing the proceeds of the sales 35 and placing the money down at the apostles’ feet. Then it was distributed to each as anyone had need.
36 Now Joseph, a Levite and native of Cyprus, who was surnamed [a]Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement), 37 sold a field belonging to him and brought the money and set it at the apostles’ feet.

For Reflection

The world seems to be dominated by the idea, "What's mine is mine and what's yours is yours." Even families seem to operate that way.

Many immigrants seeking freedom and security in the United States survive by living communally. They share a home, a car, income and food not only with each other but also with their families in their native lands. They seem to thrive on the premise, "What's yours is yours, and what's mine is also yours."

It seems to me that is also how God deals with us.  It all belongs to God, and God shares willingly and abundantly.  Couldn't we do the same with each other?

Pray

Pray to share our loving kindness and goodwill.  The shared burden of wellbeing will bring joy and peace to us all.

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Keeping the Sabbath Yields Good Crops

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Remembering with Joy

Leviticus 26:3-6 Amplified Bible 
3 If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments and [obediently] do them, 4 then I will give you rain in its season, and the land will yield her produce and the trees of the field bear their fruit. 5 And your threshing season will last until grape gathering and the grape gathering [time] will last until planting, and you will eat your bread and be filled and live securely in your land. 6 I will also grant peace in the land, so that you may lie down and there will be no one to make you afraid. I will also eliminate harmful animals from the land, and no sword will pass through your land.

For Reflection

God doesn't ask us to believe merely but to walk in God's statutes.  To integrate his laws into the depth of our souls so that we can not help but comply with the things which will perfect us.  It follows, then, that if we are obedient and trusting and walk the talk, our lives will be blessed. We will understand the world in which we live from a new perspective of love and fulfillment.

Pray

Pray so that you will embed the will of God deeply into your soul.

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Observing the Sabbaths and the Festivals

Acceptable Offerings Are Without Blemish

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Honor God with Your First Fruits

Leviticus 22:17-25 The Message

17-25 God spoke to Moses: “Tell Aaron and his sons and all the People of Israel, Each and every one of you, whether native-born or foreigner, who presents a Whole-Burnt-Offering to God to fulfill a vow or as a Freewill-Offering, must make sure that it is a male without defect from cattle, sheep, or goats for it to be acceptable. Don’t try slipping in some creature that has a defect—it won’t be accepted. Whenever anyone brings an offering from cattle or sheep as a Peace-Offering to God to fulfill a vow or as a Freewill-Offering, it has to be perfect, without defect, to be acceptable. Don’t try giving God an animal that is blind, crippled, mutilated, an animal with running sores, a rash, or mange. Don’t place any of these on the Altar as a gift to God. You may, though, offer an ox or sheep that is deformed or stunted as a Freewill-Offering, but it is not acceptable in fulfilling a vow. Don’t offer to God an animal with bruised, crushed, torn, or cut-off testicles. Don’t do this in your own land but don’t accept them from foreigners and present them as food for your God either. Because of deformities and defects, they will not be acceptable.”

For Reflection

The guidelines Moses gave to the people of God is worth remembering.  Of course, we no longer offer burnt offerings. We submit ourselves to the service of God.  That offering is as essential to our contemporary lives as it was to those in Moses' age. So, it should be given freely with no hidden agenda for reward or even response. The gift of grace should be shared humbly and without reticence.

Pray

Prayers are sacred.  They should be made sincerely without selfish motive. Pray so that you strengthen your relationship with God.  Pray by action as a child of God. 

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