Poverty is most obvious in its material sense. I am humbled by the generosity of the Irish people. Any charitable fund-raising I have done here has always been met with incredible enthusiasm and support from neighbours and even strangers in our community. Amazing! Thank God for the Irish!
Having lived 5 years of my life in India I have witnessed poverty, real poverty, right up close. Since returning to Dublin life has not always been easy for us either, but this is a relative thing given the laptop, car, clothes, equipment and so on we own. We are blessed, we just don't always recognise it!
Poverty though is not only 'material' in nature (money, possessions etc)There are other types of poverty....
Motivational poverty is evident amongst many in our time. Take the true meaning out of why you are alive and you have to replace it with something else, right? After a while those substitutes become 'hollow' in our chests. Others find that the spirit of the age - that its all about 'us' isn't all it was cracked up to be. Those who give themselves away learn 'its more blessed to give than receive'
Others experience poverty in relationships or a lack of any sense of community that means that we could live in a mansion in Beverly Hills but be lonely, have had multiple marriages and surrounded by shallow people who love them for what they can get rather than who they are. That friends is a disease.
Finally there is spiritual poverty.
People in the West are starting to wake up to the fact that if you ignore this or try to bury it you bury yourself alive.Many are looking here and there to the latest new age philosophy to fill the gap. Jesus Christ proclaimed Himself as the answer and this was attested by signs, wonders, miracles and the deep witness of the Holy Spirit amongst many. This continues worldwide today. His death can become to us new life.
Let me conclude by nailing this straight between the eyes. I believe in the Gospel - literally meaning 'good news' (!) - in Jesus Christ. Believing in Him opens the door to a God who loves us and as we trust in Him, even the poor become 'rich' in faith! He is also the God of the break-through, while the Gospel firstly deals with my sinful heart of independence from God and all those consequences, He has told us to expect the love of a Father who gives good gifts to His children! There are no orphans in God's family, all are fully adopted as 'sons'. Expect breakthrough if not a pain-free ride!
Read the following and be encouraged today in our God who has come to meet this world in its 'total state of poverty',
1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,[a]
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations
Isaiah 61v1-4
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