November 14th, 2025 Devotional

💧 Living Water Vineyard

Friday Devotional — Not Stepping Over the Beggar

📖 James 1:27 | Luke 16:19–31 | Mark 6:34 | Matthew 8:3

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💬 Seeing What God Sees

There’s a line in The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns that stays with me:

If we cut out every verse in the Bible about the poor, justice, and compassion, we’d lose over two-thirds of Scripture.

That’s how central the poor are to the heart of God.

Yet when World Vision surveyed pastors, here’s what they found:

   •   79% listed worship as their church’s top priority

   •   57% said evangelism

   •   55% said children’s ministry

   •   47% said discipleship

Only 18% said that helping the poor was a top priority

That’s not to criticize — it’s to remind us.

As pastors, teachers, and leaders, it’s easy to get caught up in the trees — sermons, schedules, events, and meetings — and miss the forest: God’s heartbeat for the poor, the broken, and the forgotten.

James 1:27 says,

“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.”

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❤️ The Emotion Most Tied to Jesus

If you study the Gospels, you’ll find the emotion most tied to Jesus isn’t joy or anger — it’s compassion.

When Jesus saw the crowds,

“He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” (Mark 6:34)

When He met the man with leprosy,

“Jesus reached out His hand and touched him. ‘I am willing,’ He said. ‘Be clean!’” (Matthew 8:3)

He didn’t just see people — He felt for them. And then He moved toward them.

That’s the essence of the Gospel — love that doesn’t just feel something, but does something.

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🏚 The Story of Two Eternities

In Luke 16, Jesus tells a story about two men: a rich man who lived in luxury and a beggar named Lazarus who lay at his gate.

Lazarus wasn’t across town — he was right there, just outside the gate.

The rich man had to step over him every day to go about his business.

And when they both died, Jesus said Lazarus was carried by angels to Abraham’s side — comforted at last — while the rich man was in torment.

It’s not about money; it’s about sight.

The rich man didn’t see Lazarus when he had the chance.

He didn’t notice the need that was right in front of him.

And in eternity, that blindness mattered.

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🌍 Heidi Baker — “Stop for the One”

Heidi Baker’s story brings that parable to life.

She was born in California, raised in a Christian home, earned her doctorate in theology, and could’ve lived comfortably in ministry in the States.

But when she visited Mozambique — one of the poorest nations on earth — she encountered children living in garbage dumps, sleeping on cardboard, fighting off rats for scraps of food.

One day, she met a little boy named Mariano.

He was about nine years old, blind in one eye, filthy, and starving.

He clung to her dress and wouldn’t let go.

Heidi said she felt God whisper to her heart,

“Will you stop for him?”

She hugged him tight and prayed, “Jesus, please show him how much You love him.”

When she opened her eyes, Mariano was weeping. He whispered,

“Mama Aida, I can see!”

God had healed him — but even more, He had touched her.

That one encounter changed the direction of her life.

She began to feed, clothe, and love every child she could — one at a time.

Today, through Iris Global, Heidi and her team feed thousands daily, care for orphans, and preach the gospel in villages across Mozambique.

Her motto became the heartbeat of her life:

“Stop for the one.”

She didn’t step over the beggar.

She knelt down, looked him in the eyes, and saw Jesus.

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🌾 Seeing Lazarus at the Gate

Every generation of believers has to decide whether they’ll be like the rich man — busy, blessed, but blind — or like Jesus, who stopped for the one.

God doesn’t ask us to fix the whole world.

He asks us to stop for the person He places in front of us.

To feed the hungry.

To comfort the hurting.

To love the forgotten.

And when we do, the world sees something real — a gospel with no holes.

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🔍 Reflection Questions

1. Who is your “one” right now — the person at your gate that God wants you to stop for?

2. What might compassion look like this week — not just feeling sorry, but stepping forward?

3. How could our church become known for the way we see and serve the Lazaruses around us?

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🙏 Prayer

Lord Jesus, open my eyes to see what You see.

Break my heart for the people I might normally pass by.

Help me to stop for the one — not out of guilt, but out of love.

Let me see You in the faces of the poor, the lonely, and the broken.

Teach me to love like You — to move with compassion that touches and heals. Amen.

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🎵 Worship Suggestion

Song: “God of the Poor (Beauty for Brokenness)” — Graham Kendrick

“God of the poor, friend of the weak,

give us compassion, we pray.

Melt our cold hearts, let tears fall like rain —

come, change our love from a spark to a flame.”