Get Up With God
highly caffeinated daily bible doses to help start your morning off right

It’s WISDOM WEEK here on GUWG, where all week long we’ve been probing the practical principles of Proverbs.

We bring things to a close today with . . .

PROVERBS ON $$$

God First. Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing (3:9-10a).

Help the Poor. He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done (19:17). He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and who gives gifts to the rich — both come to poverty (22:16). A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed (11:25).

No Diligence, No $. Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth (10:4).

Pleasure = Poverty. He who loves pleasure will become poor (21:17a).

Dishonest $ Goes Bye-Bye. Dishonest money dwindles away (13:11a).

Little By Little. He who gathers money little by little makes it grow (13:11b).

Debt Is Slavery. The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is the servant to the lender (22:7).

$ Can’t Save You. Better a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil (15:16).

Leave Something Behind. A good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children (13:22a).

God Is Better Than $. With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity. My fruit is better than fine gold; what I yield surpasses choice silver (8:18-19).

Here’s a video from Mark Driscoll and the fine folks at Mars Hill that does a waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better job at explaining this than I ever could:

I tell you the truth, whatever you did
for one of the least of these brothers of mine,
you did for me.
(Matthew 25:40)

According to the latest statistics from stopthehunger.com, more than one billion people are starving right now. Some other sobering stats:

• more than 6,000 people have already died from hunger today
• nearly 1 in 6 of the world’s population is undernourished
• the amount spent in the U.S. on obesity-related diseases is 66 times more than the global amount spent on food aid
• Americans will waste more than 150,000 tons of food today — enough to feed the world’s hungry three times over

Do something. Now. Seriously.

• Pray.
• Sell some of your stuff and give the money away.
• Get involved in your community by helping out in a local homeless shelter or food pantry.
• Instead of ignoring beggars on the street, take ‘em to Subway and buy ‘em a meal.
• Visit foodforthepoor.org, where for $36 you can feed a hungry child for a year.
• Go to worldvision.org, where you can donate goats, chickens and cows to starving families.
• Share food, clean water and the Gospel by sponsoring a child through Compassion International.
• Check out bloodwatermission.com, where you can help build sustainable wells in Africa.
• Play trivia games at freerice.com where each correct answer triggers a food donation.

If anyone has material possessions
and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him,
how can the love of God be in him?
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue
but with actions and in truth.
(1 John 3:17-18)

It’s GIVE THANKS WEEK here on GUWG, where all week we’ve been focusing on giving thanks to God for all his amazing, astounding, astonishing blessings.

As I sat here this morning still recovering from an overdose of turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie, I stumbled across this rather sobering passage:

“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
one of the least of these brothers of mine,
you did for me.”
(Matthew 25:37-40)

According to real-time statistics provided by worldometers.info, 8,698 people have already died from hunger today. In contrast, here in the USA we’ve spent more $33,426,958 on weight-loss programs today.

Yikes.

Want to put your thankfulness into action? Ask God to (1) help you ignore the “buy more stuff” messages the world is screaming at you and (2) open your eyes to the needs all around us. Here are some suggested action items for your consideration:

• Pray.
• Sell some of your stuff and give the $$$ away.
• Get involved in your community by helping out a local homeless shelter or food pantry.
• Instead of ignoring beggars on the street, take ‘em to Subway and buy ‘em a meal.
• Visit foodforthepoor.org, where for $36 you can feed a hungry child for a year.
• Go to worldvision.org, where you can donate goats, chickens and cows to starving families.
• Share food, clean water and the Gospel by sponsoring a child through Compassion International.
• Check out bloodwatermission.com, where you can help build sustainable wells in sub-Saharan Africa for pennies a week.

Here’s another verse for your consideration:

If anyone has material possessions,
and sees his brother in need but has not pity on him,
how can the love of God be in him?
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue
but with actions and in truth.
(1 John 3:17-18)

Since I started writing this, another 363 people have died from starvation. Let’s do something!

PUT YOUR THANKS
INTO ACTION

It’s PRAY THE BIBLE WEEK here on GUWG, where all week we’ll be praying through some of the most inspiring sections of Scripture together.

Today, we’ll pray through 141 words that literally turned the world on its head: THE BEATITUDES – from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. 

Want to be blessed? Ask the Holy Spirit to burn these words deep into your soul and to change your heart forever . . .

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you
and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven,
for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

(Matthew 5:3-12)

“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 one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:37-40)

Want some perspective?

According to real-time statistics provided by worldometers.info:

• 22,205 people have already died from hunger today
• 1,731,072 people have died from water-related diseases this year
• 1,357,496,468 people have no access to safe drinking water

Want to help? 

Ask God to open your eyes to the needs around you.

• Sell some of your stuff and give the money away.
• Get involved in your community by helping out in a local homeless shelter or food pantry.
• Instead of ignoring beggars on the street, take ‘em to Subway and buy ‘em a meal.
• Visit worldvision.org, where you can buy goats, chickens and cows to help starving families.
• Check out blood:watermission.org, where you can help build sustainable wells in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Go to Food for the Poor, where you can build a home for a destitute family.

Since I started writing this, another 841 people have died from starvation. Help NOW!

FEED THE POOR