Grace In Action

Written by FAVORED1 on November 2, 2009 – 3:46 pm -

November 2, 2009

One day David asked, “Is anyone in Saul’s family still alive—anyone to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” He summoned a man named Ziba, who had been one of Saul’s servants. “Are you Ziba?” the king asked. “Yes sir, I am,” Ziba replied. The king then asked him, “Is anyone still alive from Saul’s family? If so, I want to show God’s kindness to them.” Ziba replied, “Yes, one of Jonathan’s sons is still alive. He is crippled in both feet.” “Where is he?” the king asked. “In Lo-debar,” Ziba told him, “at the home of Makir son of Ammiel.” So David sent for him and brought him from Makir’s home. His name was Mephibosheth; he was Jonathan’s son and Saul’s grandson. When he came to David, he bowed low to the ground in deep respect. David said, “Greetings, Mephibosheth.” Mephibosheth replied, “I am your servant.” “Don’t be afraid!” David said. “I intend to show kindness to you because of my promise to your father, Jonathan. I will give you all the property that once belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will eat here with me at the king’s table!” Mephibosheth bowed respectfully and exclaimed, “Who is your servant, that you should show such kindness to a dead dog like me?” Then the king summoned Saul’s servant Ziba and said, “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. You and your sons and servants are to farm the land for him to produce food for your master’s household. But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, will eat here at my table.” (Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.) Ziba replied, “Yes, my lord the king; I am your servant, and I will do all that you have commanded.” And from that time on, Mephibosheth ate regularly at David’s table, like one of the king’s own sons. Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica. From then on, all the members of Ziba’s household were Mephibosheth’s servants. And Mephibosheth, who was crippled in both feet, lived in Jerusalem and ate regularly at the king’s table.

[2 Samuel 9]

‘GRACE IN ACTION’

Good Afternoon Beloved,

I hope your weekend was a blessed as mine was. My family and friends really made my birthday special. I love the story of David. He was an interesting person. I’ve talked about him before, but today I thought about another relatively unknown character… Mephibosheth. He was the only son of David’s best friend Jonathan. Remember, they were like brothers. Jonathan had not only spoke over David’s life and told him that God had given the kingdom to him, but he had also saved David’s life. He even commented that he would serve with David when David took over the throne. Sadly, Jonathan died in battle alongside his father Saul and two of his brothers. After David was firmly situated as king, he asked if there was any of Saul’s people left that he could bless. That was a strange request seeing that any of Saul’s descendants could have fought for control over the throne. They could have killed David and his followers. David was told about Jonathan’s son. Mephibosheth was basically living in poverty and fear. His grandfather Saul had commanded that 85 priests and their families be killed when he was searching for David. Their crime? Not telling Saul which way David went. Only one of priests’ son escaped, and David promised to take care of him for the rest of his life… which he did. God caused a famine to come upon the land because of it. David approached the Gibeonites and asked them what he could do to make it right with them. They decided they wanted the death of seven of Saul’s sons (thank God for our new covenant of grace and mercy) and David complied (1 Samuel 22:16-19) … but he saved Jonathan’s son. Now, it doesn’t appear that Mephibosheth knew any of this. Can you imagine the fear he lived in when his grand-daddy’s kids were killed? He must have thought that his days were numbered… that David was coming to get him too. Can you imagine how he felt the day that he was summoned into David’s presence? Probably unimaginable terror. He couldn’t run … he was lame on both of his feet. He had no power chair to get around. Life had to have been very difficult for him. This is where the story gets interesting… instead of killing him, David tells him that because of his friendship with his daddy, that he was going to take care of him. WOW! Grace in action. Not only that, but he restored to Mephibosheth all of the property that belonged to Saul’s family, and charged Saul’s servant Ziba and his family to take care of it for Mephibosheth. I love this story because it gives such a powerful example of God’s love working through a real live flesh and blood person. Everyday we are challenged with all sorts of decisions. People that have talked about us, double-crossed us you name it. The test of the child of God is what we do when we have an opportunity to really ‘get them’. David could have exacted revenge on Saul’s whole lineage for all the years that Saul tormented him. They were a part of his kingdom now, and he could have really made them suffer, but he chose to honor his commitment to Jonathan and bless his son. Mephibosheth did absolutely nothing to deserve the enormous favor that was poured out on him… it was all because of his father… hmmm… that sounds familiar… everything we receive is because of our Father…. isn’t that something?

… now that Beloved is Good News!

U Blessed!

Have A Fabulous Day!

Regina

*******

A big GOD BLESS YOU and congratulations to the DreaMinistry Team and the cast of “Prodi-Gal”… y’all blessed my socks off Saturday night … well I wasn’t wearing socks so I guess you blessed my shoes off! Great job!… I was trying to put on my company manners, but you guys had me laughing so hard at some points, I almost fell out of my chair. Other times I just wanted to run on stage and slap a couple of people (you big meanies know who you are … Mo, Jerry! LOL!) Every character was on point! Congratulations again and I love you all! God was truly glorified!