Digging Deeper - God Helps Those Who Help Themselves

Questions

What has God taught you from this message and series?

What is God’s view of pure religion? Read James 1:27

What are some ways people are helpless today? How can we help them?

Which point in this sermon spoke to you the most? How will this affect you?

Is there something in this sermon that surprised you? If so, how were you surprised?

Key Verses

Psalm 121:1, 2 NIV
“I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.”

Psalm 10:14 NIV
“But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you, you are the helper of the fatherless.”

James 1:27 NIV
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

Hebrews 4:16 NIV
“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Hebrews 13:5 NIV
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

Chad’s Full Message Notes

This is only a partial truth, but of course that doesn’t mean there is no truth at all. In fact, it hints of an important truth.

When I sit down to eat, I say a mealtime blessing. But just because I prayed doesn’t mean food magically appears on my plate. That would be a good way to go hungry. We work and earn a paycheck, go to the store and buy food and prepare it. When I pray I am thanking God for the ability to work and provide for my family.

The same applies with employment. If I were unemployed and simply say around praying, “God please give me a job,” it might be a long wait…..There are things to do—prepare resume, actively look for job openings, submit applications, go to interviews, etc….

We can pray and pray, but we also have to do some work in the process. God has blessed us with brains, strength, and wisdom. And he surrounds us with gifted people to give advice if we need it…So we pray—and we work.

Psalm 121:1, 2 NIV

Psalm 10:14 NIV

We are not called to judge people but to reach out and help them.

1 . God Works Through People
James 1:27 NIV

In the first century, orphans and widows had very little means of economic support. Unless a family memeber was willing to care for them, they were reduced to begging, selling themselves as slaves or starving. Ny caring for these powerless people the church put God’s Word into practice.

God doesn’t care how religious you are, he cares about it changing your life, effecting your daily walk, your attitude, how you care for people.

2 . God shows grace to the helpless
Hebrews 4:16 NIV

We have a High Priest who is both powerful and compassionate, we can come boldly to His throne. The devil wants us to think Jesus is unapproachable, or that he doesn’t have the power to help us. Those are lies of the enemy.

Boldly does not mean proudly, arrogantly, or with presumption.
Boldly means we may come constantly.
Boldly means we may come without reservation.
Boldly means we can come freely, with out fancy words.
Boldly means we can come with confidence.
Boldly means we should come with persistence.

God helps those who help themselves does not capture the truth of the Bible. Sometimes we can’t help ourselves, not because we are poor or destitute or witout resources but because we have gone too deep into sin and despair.

God loves people, the God who walks with through the darkest valleys. He is the God who brings light into our darkness and helps us find peace in our anxious mind. God rescues, redeems, and forgives.

We call it grace.

God helps those who cannot help themselves.

3 . God says—“You Matter to me”
Hebrews 13:5 NIV

God wants us to be content & not greedy……..We can trust that God will provide for us and always be with us.

Cry out ot God, the only one who can help us. God says “I love you and will not abandon you. Put your trust in me. Together we can make it.

Thanks be to God who helps those who work and pray. And, even, more, thanks be to God who helps those (like all of us, sometimes) who cannot help themselves.