Deuteronomy/D’varim 15: ¹⁰ You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. ¹¹ For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’

Psalm/Tehillim 112:9 He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn is exalted in honor.

Proverbs/Mishlei 14:21 Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor.

Isaiah/Yesha’Yahu 58:7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

Ezekiel/Yechezk’El 16:49 Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.

Matthew/Mattityahu 25:37- 40 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

Luke 12: 33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.…

Luke 14: 12 Then Jesus said to the man who had invited Him, “When you host a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or brothers or relatives or rich neighbors. Otherwise, they may invite you in return, and you will be repaid. 13But when you host a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind, 14and you will be blessed. Since they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”…

Acts 2:44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they shared with anyone who was in need. 46With one accord they continued to meet daily in the temple courts and to break bread from house to house, sharing their meals with gladness and sincerity of heart,…

Acts 20:35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Romans 12:13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

James/Ya’akov [Jacob] 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

I John/Yochanan 3:17-18 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

Below is encouragement on the topic of giving that a sweet sister in JESUS/YESHUA’YAH wrote:

“Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will

reward them for what they have done.” ~ Psalm 19:17

The poor have a special place in the heart of God. That’s why

He mentions them a multitude of times in His Word. You

might have noticed that God repeats Himself on this topic

hundreds of times!

In the Bible, large-scale repetition emphasizes just how important

the poor are in the eyes of God as well as how we are to give.

Opportunities abound to share the love and compassion of Christ

to the needy. Whether through ministries or to individuals, we do

not have to look very hard.

That said, I’m challenging you and myself to look harder for any

discretionary spending that could be redirected to the poor. This could

include orphans, the homeless, struggling families, needy widows, refugees,

hungry people here and abroad, just to name a few possibilities.

We all need reminders.

The poor are a reminder of our own spiritual bankruptcy compared

to our holy and perfect God.  How benevolent He has been to us!

I trust you and I can do more to help people in need.  The Thanksgiving

season is upon us and what a great reminder it is of our many blessings. 

As believers, we can be thankful each day.  Giving is a beautiful testimony

of our gratitude to our most generous God! 

“Give up” to God and others as you look for ways to sacrificially and

quietly give!  This is most pleasing to our Father in Heaven, who will

reward us!  (Re. wanting rewards, God put this desire in our DNA.

Yet, it’s best to be rewarded from Him).

It’s true — it is more blessed to give than receive.

Prayer ~ Our gracious Father in Heaven, we have been the recipients

of so much good from Your Hand.  May we freely, cheerfully, and

generously give to those in great need.  You have done that for us

by way of the cross, a most costly gift, and countless other blessings! 

Thank you for the many reminders in Your Word to remember the poor.

In His generous and sacrificial love,

Mary

https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/1212/what-people-spend-on-christmas-around-the-world.aspx

https://www.alliantcreditunion.org/money-mentor/how-much-are-americans-spending-this-holiday-season

[the above link is now for 2021 but the info below is from 2019]

Gifts. Decorations. Travel. There are so many fun things to spend money on this time of year. But just how much are Americans spending this holiday season [Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa]? Let’s take a look.

After seeing overall holiday sales increase 2.1 percent in 2018, the National Retail Federation (NRF) expects Americans to spend this holiday season another 4 percent, bringing overall holiday spending to nearly $30 billion [2019]. Whoa!

New data from 2021: After seeing overall holiday sales increase 8.2% in 2020, the National Retail Federation (NRF) expects Americans to spend 8.5% to 10.5% more this 2021 holiday season, bringing overall holiday spending between $843.4 and $859 billion. (Note: These spending calculations exclude auto dealers, gas stations and restaurant purchases.) STUNNING compared to 2019!!

JESUS/YESHUA’YAH said in Luke 6:31, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” and in John/Yochanan 14:15, “If you love me, you will obey my commandments.”. Is it too late to do for HIM what HE would truly love?

Praises, Blessings and Thanks to our Magnificent GOD/ELOHIM – may our Well Beloved FATHER in Heaven bless as many as possible with the ability to have the Heart and Mind of HIS Well Beloved SON by giving us eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts and minds teachable and open to the Well Beloved SPIRIT OF TRUTH, WISDOM, UNDERSTANDING, KNOWLEDGE – Isaiah/Yesha’Yahu 11:2, so that we show our Gracious SAVIOR the True Love HE asked for by obeying HIM, may this be accomplished in HIS Most Precious NAME JESUS/YESHUA’YAH, AMEN!!!