“Blessed Is He That Considereth The Poor” (Psalms 41:1)
Vivid memories of poverty-induced pain and misery thru out my
childhood and youth in my earthly father’s house will linger in my mind for all
my earthly days, I expect. Likely the most excruciatingly painful of those
experiences, was that of lying awake at night (too many nights thru out my
upbringing), unable to get the nightly sleep my body needed because pain from
the nerves in decayed teeth was too intense to allow me to fall asleep. There
was not enough money in my father’s house to pay a dentist to repair those
teeth and thus relieve that pain.
A most blessed result to stem from those painful (but
fruit producing) experiences is the intense burning
desire in my heart to help every hurting soul on this planet Earth that
I possibly can.
About 1980, as I traveled from Japan to the Pacific island of Guam once or twice annually to do various evangelistic work on that tropical island, Fran (not her real name) started attending children services I held and soon accepted Christ as her Saviour.
“My teeth are killing me,” Fran remarked painfully to me in 1982,
when she was 10 or 11 years old. (Her father had passed away when she was about
4 years old.) I asked her to open her mouth. And as I
peered inside, the sight of this fatherless child’s decayed teeth was much
worse than my teeth had ever gotten when I was in my earthly father’s poor
farmhouse. (One reason was that she had more sweets to eat than I did.)
As soon as I could, I asked Fran’s Korean mother if I could take
her to the dentist, me paying for it, of course. With much thanksgiving, Mom
happily agreed to that. Upon looking into Fran’s mouth, the dentist was
somewhat aghast, just as I had been. “I will get to work filling many cavities.
Because of much long neglect, teeth have moved out of place. She must wear
braces for several months, if her teeth are to ever ‘set right’ and be properly aliened. Also, she has one impacted tooth that a
dental surgeon will have to remove.”
I made that appointment ASAP with the dental surgeon this dentist
recommended. A few days later I am sitting in his
waiting room praying for that surgery to go perfectly. When he finally called
me in at the end of it, Fran looked groggy and somewhat half-conscious. “She
took it like a true soldier.” The dentist complimented her for “hanging in
there” under strong sedative while he cut apart her gums on both sides to push
the impacted tooth sideways with a probe, to where he could get his
pliers a hold of it on the opposite side to pull it out.
For the next 3 or 4 weeks, I took Fran to the original dentist
several times for him to fill many cavities. He referred me to an orthodontist.
And when this cavity filler dentist told me that she
was at the stage where the orthodontist could start his work and fit her with
braces, I took her to the orthodontist. More than a year later, the end result was that Fran’s much-neglected teeth were
repaired and set in place as well as American dentistry could do.
Reader Friend, isn’t that wonderful!
That blessed end result replaced her pained expression
with a beautiful smile (and put a big smile in my heart).
In the New Testament, Chapter 12 of 1st
Corinthians gives us much rich teaching as to the blessedness
of each Christian believer as a member of the body
of Christ. Verse 26 starts with “And
whether one member suffer, all the members
suffer with it.”
My Christian Friend, seriously consider just how much (or
how little) you suffer with a fellow Christian. Truly suffering with a
fellow member of the body of Christ will cause you to
earnestly pray for our Lord to help that one in their suffering. It will
also naturally cause you to speak words of comfort and encouragement to them. But likely the greatest manifestation of true compassion, sympathy,
concern and suffering with that soul, is that you will do anything
in your power to relieve that suffering. That’s
where the rubber hits the road.
As you travel down this road of life headed straight toward the
Judgment Seat of Christ to be judged for how you have lived after you
were redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb, are you truly being a Good
Samaritan to any hurting soul you can possibly help (not just
to a fellow Christian)??? I observe that we are prone to readily help
hurting souls near around us, who are in our sight, but
are not prone at all to search out and help suffering souls far away,
who are out of sight, out of sound, and therefore out of mind.
Presently (in 2017), by
God’s Abundant Grace, annually I send as many thousands of dollars as I
possibly can to Pastor Raju in India for him to feed widows who were eating
only 1 meal a day (and for other dire needs). One time, upon
receiving a donation from me, he wrote to me in Japan to say that my donation
enabled him to give his church widows a 2nd
meal each day.
God have
mercy on you pastors and church leaders in the U.S. who regularly lade church
tables with diabetes-inducing sweets practically every time your church folks
assemble in your “house of God”, and don’t give a hoot about the welfare
of your hungry widowed elderly sisters in Christ in India who
have only one bowl of rice to eat each day. Should not the remainder of the Body care (suffer),
when one member suffers??? Beware that your
Creator God is likely to soon give you “cleanness of
teeth”. “And I also have given you cleanness of
teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not
returned unto me, saith the Lord.” (Amos
4:6)
Pastor Raju in India feeds
and clothes widows and orphans with the offerings I send him, thank God. He
also used some of my offering to buy a wheel chair for a boy in his church that
has one leg missing from the knee down.
“I know,” she sighed remorsefully and hopelessly, “but I have no
money.”
In a few days, I flew back to Guam as scheduled and started searching
for a dentist who would remove Kati’s braces immediately, calling Rota almost
daily to confer with Pastor Tony, Kati, and her mom.
“Because she’s a minor, I’ll take her braces off on the condition
that her mother be present,” one Guam dentist replied
to me.
I call Kati’s mom on Rota to tell her I’ll
provide plane tickets for both her and Kati and
they can lodge a night or two with church folks on Guam.
“I cannot enter Guam on my passport.” Kati’s mother gave me that
regretful reply. She was not a U.S. citizen. Trying as best I could to relieve
Kati’s torment, I was hitting one brick wall after another. Mercy, Lord God, to open up the way, I plead!
“The braces are getting so tight I can’t sleep at night because of
the pain!” Kati frantically told me that on the phone. (I recalled similar
painful, sleepless nights from my boyhood.)
I phoned Kati’s current plight to a dentist on Guam. “Tell them to
take needle nose pliers, clip the wires, and pull out all the wires from the
braces. That will relieve much pressure.” I relayed that to Kati’s mom and they
did that on Rota.
With my Lord working Powerfully in
hearts, I found a Christian dentist on Guam who agreed to remove Kati’s braces
without her mother being present, if I would be present and act as her
legal guardian. I happily agreed to that, and phoned that news to
Kati’s mom. She wrote her consent to that (giving me custody of Kati during the
time she would be on Guam). Kati brought that letter of consent to Guam with
her on the airplane and handed it over to me upon arrival. Thank Thee, Lord, for giving me this precious child as my own, for
2 days.
(Kati has a U.S. passport. So she can enter Guam, a U.S. territory.)
I sent her mother the money for roundtrip plane fare to Guam for Kati alone. I
met Kati at the Guam Airport on a Saturday in January 2008 when her plane
arrived at 1:20 PM, and drove her straight to the dentist’s office about 2
miles away. (Everything is conveniently nearby on
these small islands.)
Tho he customarily closed at 1 PM on Saturdays, this kind
Christian dentist (pastor of a small church) stayed overtime in his clinic with
2 of his staff. They 3 patiently removed Kati’s braces
(some places were stubbornly tight), and he polished her teeth and such.
‘Does that feel better?’ I asked Kati as she finally got out of
the dentist chair after somewhat of an ordeal.
“Yea!” She replied with a big smile of relief as wide as the Pacific
Ocean. Oh, what JOY!
I paid up and told Kati to give the two ladies
(dental staff) a hug. We 2 left the dentist in my rental car, most happy and
relieved.
‘Kati, how are your glasses?’
“I’m beginning to have a little trouble seeing well.”
I drove to a mall and took Kati into an eyeglass store where a man
gave her a thorough eye exam. “There has been some eyesight deterioration since
she got the glasses she’s wearing. She needs new glasses. We can have a new
pair ready for her in an hour.”
I asked him to show Kati the styles of eyeglasses (frames) that
would be most suitable and practical for her. He did so, and she picked her
favorite from among them. I asked which cases are strong and practical, and she
picked her favorite eyeglass case. Then Kati and I strolled around the
air-conditioned mall an hour or so, chatting and such. (Guam is tropical.
January is hot.)
We 2 came back to this “eye” store. Kati took off her old glasses
and put the new pair on. These newly measured frames fit her growing face
perfectly.
‘Can you see better now?’ I asked.
“Yea!” Kati replied with the same rapturous face she replied to me when
she got out of the dentist chair.
‘Put your old glasses in this new case and take them
back to your Mother.’ (I don’t think she had a case
till now, just her eyeglasses.) Sweet
Jesus, I’m blessed beyond measure to have a daughter
for 2 days to do these most helpful things she desperately needed! (All you parents know how it genuinely makes you
feel like a parent each time you shell out money for your children.)
I drove Kati to a missionary’s house for a blessed supper with
their large family and some guests (including me). She went on to spend the
night with a pastor’s family who had a daughter just younger than Kati. The
following morning, Kati sat in church on Guam listening to me preach. The next
day (Monday), I drove her to the airport for her to fly back to Rota. Plane
ticket, dentist and eye doctor totaled about $500. I was most blessed and
overjoyed to hand over that money.
Meanwhile, Reader Friend, I keep a sharp lookout for the next
“Kati in need.” You do likewise, and you help them!
“But I don’t have such money!”
Oh really? Total up the money you have spent for possessions, events and
such that were totally (or mostly) for pleasure. Total up the
expensive things you have bought, but are not necessary to life. The Judge of
all the earth has kept a detailed, exact record down to the penny
of your spending on pleasure for Self versus
your giving to the poor and suffering. You are soon to meet that record in
Judgment. The soul that liveth in pleasure on this earth is dead while he or
she liveth. (I Timothy 5:6)
Think on this, please. For several years now (in 2017), a middle
age Godly Christian lady in Florida has been collecting aluminum cans, selling
them and donating the proceeds to my missionary work, thank God. I’ve never met Sister Parry in person. Over 10 years ago she got my books somehow, read them, and started writing
me. She’s a tremendous blessing to me. Each time her
sales of the cans add up to $100, she sends me $100, an average of about 3
times a year. That helps me tremendously.
If there is a place in your area that buys aluminum, consider
urging your church’s young people to collect aluminum for your church to use
the proceeds as the Lord leads you. With minimum supervision, any
group of young people could take this on as a project. You well know
how our nation is “covered with cans”. Mrs. Parry asks gas stations and such
places to let her go thru their garbage to retrieve the aluminum cans inside.
When she tells such businesses that the money is going to a missionary in Japan,
several places gladly save up their cans for her and call her when they have a
load. I’m most thankful to God for the $300 or so
annual support that it means to me.
Anyone collecting cans would need to carefully organize that
“operation” to the end that they aren’t doing much
extra driving to accomplish it, consuming expensive gasoline. Mrs. Parry drops
by businesses to pick up cans, as she does her routine driving to and fro, thus doing very little extra driving in her
“canning” work. She routinely walks roadsides in her area, picking up
cans.
From the time I was 4
years old or so, till I graduated from high school, my
parents kept me busy doing all the physical labor on our farm that I was able
to do. That was most beneficial to me. It engrained a strong
work ethic in me. Many present-day kids and youth are
cursed in that little or no physical work is assigned to
them, or even available to them. With much
free time, the devil is quick to step in to entice them to engage in sin during
it, or to sit endlessly before a high tech moving screen that ruins
their precious God-given eyesight and robs them of necessary exercise,
not even to mention the ungodly and sinful scenes they are
watching, which program their minds to copycat that sin.
In agony of spirit, I
observe church youth shopping around for the church that will baby them with
the most food, amusement, recreation and such vanity inside God’s house.
I observe church youth arrive at God’s house on Friday nights and Saturdays (at
the time fun activities are scheduled for them) with a
spoiled, sullen look on their face that says, “This had better be
good. We can always switch to another church that is more fun.”
Church carries on an
aggressive sports agenda in its own neighborhood for its youth, topped off with
frequent trips to Six Flags Over Everywhere to bombard their kids with the lust
of the eye, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life in a most
professional and powerful manner. Some churches even use the tithes and offerings of their congregations
(supposedly given to the Lord) to pay for such expensive babying, living
ever so carnally and worldly by doing so, but
meanwhile giving absolutely NO thought to suffering with
multitudes of brothers and sisters in Christ thru out the Earth who suffer in
physical pain with no money to pay for medical treatment to cure that pain,
and/or go hungry much of the time in their poverty. Rest assured
that payday is soon coming when God brings poverty, famine, and plagues upon
fat, pleasure-loving, churchgoing Americans.
“And I will give children to
be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.” (Isaiah 3:4) “As for my
people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them…” (Vs. 12a)
Presently, we see such occurring
as children demand that their parents, church leaders and such adults spoil
them, or they will sullenly howl loudly until the adults cave in to their
demands.
Aluminum cans abound everywhere. It would be most
profitable eternally for kids and teens to make valuable use of
free time by collecting and selling them. It seems a shame to let
the aluminum “go to waste”, when Christian young’uns could be
laying up treasures in Heaven by collecting it to use the proceeds for God’s
work, especially to help souls suffering in poverty.
If you ask businesses in your area for cans that accumulate in
their garbage, and if young’uns (or anyone) keep an eye out to pick up cans
they see lying around, likely you would be amazed at the amount you would
accumulate as time goes by.
“For who hath despised the day of small
things?” (Zechariah 4:10) The short
answer to that question is “Those souls who know not their Creator God and His
Will for their lives on this earth.” Almighty Jehovah is a God that
forbids waste. “When they were filled,
he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing
be lost.” (John 6:12) Our Lord
commanded that the fragments of food be gathered up
after He miraculously multiplied 5 loaves of bread and 2 small
fishes to feed a hungry multitude of thousands of folks to the full.
Lord Jesus, please save each of us from
the awful sin of wasting.
Each
aluminum can will likely sell for 1
cent or more. Millions of cans are daily emptied and
discarded in our nation. That is millions of pennies
Christians could use to feed the hungry, preach the saving Gospel far and near,
and such, if only Christians would take the time to gather up those fragments.
(I collect cans here in Japan and sell them.) Who hath despised a small penny?? But present-day Christians had
rather spend their free time eating, drinking and making merry, fattening
themselves up for the soon-coming slaughter God will bring upon
this selfish generation.
During World War II, the
German Nazi army surrounded Leningrad, Russia in a siege trying to starve them
into surrendering. Thousands died of cold and starvation. Toward the end of the
siege, cannibalism abounded. (Reader friend, starvation and its resulting
cannibalism are in our near future, no doubt. Read such history in
ancient days in the Old Testament book of Lamentations and expect the same
tragedy to soon overtake us fat, faring sumptuously every day Lovers of
Self.)
A starving Russian lady
resident of Leningrad walked to a high ranking government office begging for
food to keep her alive. The official sadly told her none was available. She
asked him for the old leather case she saw lying on a table in his office. He
gave it to her. She went home, cut the leather into string-like strips, boiled
them to make “meat jelly” (to eat) and sent him 2 jars
of it as a gift (for him to eat).
Reader Friend, such a life of starvation worldwide
is just ahead, I firmly believe.
When I was a small child (1950), we ate at church only one time a year
(dinner on the ground in mid-summer). Presently, I’m
most blessed with the privilege of preaching in many churches in Japan and
in the U.S. But upon entering
a church building nowadays, often it is a sore grief to me to be greeted
with “The coffee is over there.”
‘No thank you, I’m not
a drug addict and I didn’t come to this house of God to work at becoming
one. I came to worship my Creator!!!’
“Help
yourself to everything” (donuts, fudge, pie, cake and such harmful junk foods
in gluttonous abundance). Then, when
prayer requests are voiced at church: “Pray for Sister
Plump Pie (or Brother Cake Clump). Their diabetes is bad, out of control.”
‘No, thank you. Please
cease trying to ruin my health and make a diabetic out of me.’
“What? have
ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise
ye the church of God, and shame them that have not?” (I Corinthians 11:22) “And
if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto
condemnation.” (Verse 34) Church
Attending Friend, do you ever hear these 2 above verses
from I Corinthians 11 expounded upon from your church’s pulpit, or by your
Sunday School teacher, or even mentioned by anyone in your
church??? Get ready to frantically search for mice and rats to
eat as you starve.
Please read my sermon titled “Enter The Sword” in the Sermon section of my web site. It vividly
describes God’s sword punishing “lovers of self”. In 1984, I sent that warning in printed booklet form by 4th class mail to every mailbox in several
American cities and towns. Ever so appalling was the
filthy language in a few letters I got from a few “lovers of self” who read
that warning. But ignoring the many warnings abounding
and ignoring the reality of that sword will do nothing to stay it from
coming to destroy you Lover of Self.
If you want to lead young people to pick
up aluminum can pennies, and if you send any pennies to this missionary, those
pennies will help relieve the sufferings of the next “Kati” I come to know of
on this Asian side of the world, or the next Asian church congregation I learn
of that has several members (our brothers and sisters in Christ) suffering
with only one meal a day.
Reader Friend, if you would care to push away from the banquet table, get off your fat can, and get your church youth out collecting the many pennies readily available in the form of aluminum cans, and if you want to send any portion of the proceeds to me and designate them to go to Pastor Raju in India, it would be a delight to me to send them on to him. Or ask me for his address if you want it.
Thank you Sunday School teachers, who read or tell my missionary stories to your class. Thank you Sunday School teachers, who ask your class if they occasionally want to send their offering to me. I greatly appreciate your benevolence and each penny you give to me. To me, a penny is not to be despised.
You who are caught up in the vanity of social media, I would greatly
appreciate it if you would ask all your social media audience to read this writing of mine, available on my web sight for all to
read. www.Christ-is-all.us Please spread these Good
Samaritan stories far and wide, while praying with me that more folks will have
compassion to become a Good Samaritan themselves!
“Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him
in time of trouble.” (Psalms 41:1) Lord Jesus Christ, please work in my life to cause me to consider
the poor to the fullest extent that is
Thy Will for me. It is a most wonderful thing to have Almighty Lord God Jehovah
deliver me in time of trouble. I want to have such
deliverance that is promised to me here in this
Scripture if I properly consider the poor.
“The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be
blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his
enemies.” (Verse 2) Precious Lord Jesus, I desire this that Thou preserve me and keep me alive.
I desire to be blessed upon the earth. I do not want
to be delivered unto the will of my enemies. So please
help me to truly consider and aid the
poor.”
“The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt
make all his bed in his sickness.” (Verse
3) Lord Jesus, Thou art my God that doest
heal me. Please strengthen me upon the bed of languishing. Please make all my
bed in my sickness. Please cause me to consider and to comfort and to aid the
poor, the sick, the afflicted and the ailing souls on this earth, to the fullest extent of my ability.
Reader Friend, please think deeply and long
on the helpful promises made in these above 3
verses of Scripture to anyone who will consider the poor.
“He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto
the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.”
(Proverbs 19:17) Gracious Lord Jesus, I can testify to the blessed truth of this
Scriptural Promise. Thou hast faithfully repaid me many fold
over, that which I have given unto the poor. Thou hast caused my heart to continuously overflow with the Joy of
the Lord for having pity upon the poor. Thou hast made me the most
blessed human soul on the face of the Earth. Thank Thee, Precious Lord.
Reader Friend, your Creator God desires to do the exact same
wonderful things for you, if only you will let Him.
“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down,
and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with
the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” (Luke 6:38) Thank Thee, Lord
Jesus for always returning to me many fold over, that which I
give unto Thee. Please guide my giving perfectly. I desire to
always be a cheerful giver. Perfect that cheerful attitude in me.
Reader Friend, you can never outgive God.
Truly, there is much good news in this sin sick world that is rapidly
self-destructing and is fattening itself up for the greatest
slaughter ever known in history. Each of you who are generous to me is
a great blessing and encouragement to me. Thank you so much for being a tremendous
help and a rich blessing to me! God bless you and repay you richly
for all you do for me!
“Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall
cry himself, but shall not be heard.” (Proverbs
21:13) Almighty Jehovah God, please
help us all to fully believe the certainty
of this warning. Any soul that stoppeth his ears at the cry of
the poor, of a certainty the time will come when
that miserable soul will also desperately cry for help, but he or she shall
not be heard. Save each of us from being that person. Please show great
mercy upon each of us to save us from being Lovers of Self.
Christ’s unprofitable servant in Japan,
Annaka-Shi, Gunma-Ken
379-0200 JAPAN
U.S.A. address: Christ Is
All,
PO Box 490
Vernon, Al 35592-0490