2 Samuel 4:4 – And Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son that was lame of his feet. He was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel, and his nurse took him up, and fled: and it came to pass, as she made haste to flee, that he fell, and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.

Hey all, new blog today, and going to cover a couple of things that I’ve been thinking on recently. The first one has to do with bringing nothing to the table. Because we bring nothing to the table. There is a story in the Bible of a man called Mephibosheth … 2 Samuel 4, 2 Samuel 9, 2 Samuel 16. He was the son of Jonathan, who was the son of Saul. David made a wonderful covenant with Jonathan… who was a great friend to him… a friend that sticketh closer than a brother as the Bible says. Their heart was knit together, their love was so great for each other. Please note at this time… no, David was not a sodomite, it was not that kind of a love… and this story shows us the great love of God that God has to us. God has enormous love, grace, mercy, compassion. And the picture here in the Bible of David’s treatment of Mephibosheth and the honoring of his covenant with Jonathan allows us the slightest look into the love that God has to sinful mankind. The Bible says in 1 John 4:10 – Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Romans 5:8 – But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. God is love, HE IS LOVE, we cannot know love apart from God, we cannot love anyone else apart from God.

God wants to show his grace, love, mercy to us, just like David wanted to show grace, love, mercy, compassion to Jonathan’s descendant. David honored his covenant with Jonathan, and God honors the covenant, the new, the better covenant he has with us… which is based on the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember God’s covenant with Abram in Genesis, and the horror of great darkness… without God that’s all we’ve got… a HORROR of darkness. It’s his covenant, Abram didn’t bring anything to the covenant… the provision of Jesus Christ is God’s alone… as Abram did, drive those birds away… Satan wants to spoil your belief and faith and trust in the covenant of Jesus Christ. Earnestly contend for the faith, KEEP the faith! If we have the Son, we have life. God is well pleased in his Son. And when we get saved, Jesus lives in us, he in us, and we in him, and God respects us based on the merit of his Son Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God which took away the sins of the world. The covenant is based on Jesus’ blood, the sinless, shed, pure, atoning, life giving blood, the innocent for the guilty… that’s what the Passover points us to… when God sees the blood, the death angel passes over. Is the blood covering you today? 2 Samuel 9:1 – And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan’s sake? God will show kindness to you, for Jesus’ sake. 1 John 2:12 – I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake. Get our eyes of ourselves, abandon our own understanding, TRUST in the Lord with all you heart… he must increase, we must decrease. When will we GET it though? Why else did Jesus say unless we become as little children we shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Can you be broken, humble, repentant enough to yield yourself, humble yourself, and just simply trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. After all it is Jesus who is truly the faithful one, in fact in Revelation one of his names is “FAITHFUL AND TRUE”. He is the author and finisher of our faith. Look unto him.

Mephibosheth was lame, he was a cripple, and so are we all, just do we see it. We don’t know how to walk right. We are all turned out of the way, we are all lost sheep that have gone astray, but through the mercy of God we can be returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls, the Lord Jesus Christ. Like David sought out Mephibosheth, Ziba found him and brought him to David, so the Holy Spirit seeks us out, Jesus seeks out the lost sheep and brings them home. He restores our soul. He is our Saviour. Mephibosheth saw his own inadequacy that day, and he saw it in spades, we all need to see how utterly lost and sinful and in need of the Lord Jesus Christ we are. He is everything we are NOTHING. 2 Samuel 9:8 – And he bowed himself, and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am? Strong words, but that is what we all truly are, we are ALL sinners, we have ALL sinned, we ALL need to be saved, we all need the blood of Christ, we all need the life of the Lord Jesus Christ in us and flowing through us.

We are the blind, the deaf, the dumb, the maimed, the impotent, the lepers, the outcasts… will you come to Jesus. Let him do a miracle in your life. He will fix us, he will cure us, he will set us free. And he will bring us to his table. This is what David said to Mephibosheth. 2 Samuel 9:7 – And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father’s sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. We can eat at that table continually, we can be filled with the bread of heaven, Jesus satisfies our souls, his words quicken our spirit, Jesus ministers to our deepest needs that cannot be satisfied with any wordly, fleshly substitute. In Psalms 23, the Bible says thou preparest a table before me… IJN THE PRESENCE OF MINE ENEMIES. We have complete victory in Jesus, he prepares a table for us, even with all our enemies surrounding us. We can eat at his table continually. Don’t leave his table… there were the prophets of Baal who ate at Jezebel’s table. Satan want’s to get you to his table, he’s got many ways to seduce you, entice you, that’s why you’ve got to get grounded, settled, stablished in the word of God. Stay at the table he has prepared for you. We bring nothing to the table remember. Mephibosheth didn’t bring anything… he was thoroughly undeserving, but David and so God wants to and will be quick to show mercy to a humble, repentant sinner for Jesus’ sake!

The second thought has to do with what God said to Jonah… Does thou well to be angry? Because Jonah had gotten angry, angry at God sparing Nineveh. He was upset, he was furious, he was in a strop, and he was NOT doing well to be angry … earlier God had pronounced judgement against Nineveh, he got Jonah to go and preach to them (wasn’t that easy!! but finally Jonah went and did what God told him to do), and they repented of their sin. But then… Jonah got angry! Why, what on earth? Shouldn’t Jonah have been happy to see God spare them, to show mercy… after all God wants to have compassion on sinners, he is longsuffering not willing that any should perish. Yet in our twisted human minds, we can get jealous of the grace of God. We can deny others God’s grace. How mean is that. We shouldn’t want to see God destroy people… we know not manner of spirit we are of (as Jesus said to his disciples who wanted to call down fire on a village of the Samaritans who rejected the gospel). The Son of man is come to SAVE life, not to destroy it. Jesus gives life, and he gives it more abundantly. Jonah erred greatly. The message became all about him… he had pronounced God’s judgement, he didn’t think Nineveh should be spared. After all they were Gentile dogs. We have to look at our attitude to people. God had grace on me, why shouldn’t God have grace on you, or anyone else? God’s word is for all. In the New Testament, Jesus said BID ALL COME to the feast. Everyone’s invited to the great marriage supper of the Lamb. Go into the highways and hedges. Sure, the good and bad will be collected… let God sort that out… and he promises he will. We have to be careful about looking on the outside, because God sees the inside. Jesus said the harlots go into the kingdom of heaven before you to the Pharisees. It’s easy for us to say that, but just think. It was easier for the common sinners to go into heaven then the rich, the religious elites… people that had it made in this life, who saw no profit, no need for the Saviour. What you are angry about today, we need to ask ourselves… Doest thou well to be angry?

The third thought has to do with Daniel 3:24,25 – Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. New Bible versions change this to “a son of the gods”. Firstly, it is the spirit of antichrist, not the Holy Spirit, that guides a Bible editer to deny the Lord Jesus Christ. Making Jesus into “a son of the gods” is very wrong, any true believer should see that. But people say… oh this king wouldn’t have recognized Jesus Christ… because he was a pagan… How stupid is this. The Bible says Jesus is the firstborn of every creature. He created all of us. He is God. He is the Word of God. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. Pagan or not, this Babylonian king had the same capacity to recognize truth, to recognize his Creator, to recognize Jesus Christ – THE SON OF GOD, as anyone else. We all trace back to Noah and then back to Adam… we all have God consciousness… we are all in the same boat no matter what language, skin colour, culture, background. It is ludicrous reasoning. And that’s where you go wrong. It’s YOUR reasoning. The Bible says let God be true and every man a liar.

Stop trying to tell God what he meant… God knows how to articulate himself… he doesn’t need your help. His ways and thoughts are not our ways and thoughts… so how can you have the audacity to tell him what he means? You’re a liar, I’m a liar, Nebuchadnezzar that day recognized the Lord Jesus Christ when he saw him. Every human being will recognize THE SON OF GOD when they bow the knee to him at judgement, and they all, we all will be without excuse. Stop looking for excuses, abandon our rubbish reasoning, intellect, all the rubbish and believe the Lord Jesus Christ. Nebuchadnezzar recognized the truth, he recognized THE SON OF GOD, and so will any sinner from any nation, any background, anything at all who wants truth. We are all God’s creatures, God’s creatures know their God, all creation gives glory to him, read Psalms… everything Praise the Lord! The Bible says Jesus has lighted EVERY man that has come into the world. Wake up! Does your Bible say “a son of the gods” (blasphemous, antichrist) or “The Son of God” (hey if you are a true believer this should matter A LOT to you. Check out Revelation 11:8 – And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.  Does your Bible say “our Lord” or “their Lord”. Is he YOUR Lord? You want a Bible that promotes a faith in OUR Lord, or in THEIR Lord?

The last thought has to do with a statement in Song of Solomon 1:6 – Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept. My own vineyard have I not kept. Are we keeping our own vineyard? Naboth did, but it cost him his life. Satan is a thief, robber, he wants to rob you, to steal your walk and relationship and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. WAKE UP! The Bible says the summer is ended and we are not saved. If you are not saved, get saved, TODAY is the day of salvation. Don’t put it off, Satan will distract you, blind you and prevent you from being saved. If you are Christian… Jesus said when he comes again… will he find faith? We can get so occupied with vanity, things that ultimately don’t matter, all involved in things, and lose sight of what counts. In the days of Noah and Lot, they builded, the planted, they married, they ate, they drank… they are all just going along living life, and Jesus said… THEY KNEW NOT until the flood came and destroyed them all. Jesus said, WHILE MEN SLEPT the enemy came in and planted tares. For all of us, saved and unsaved, it’s time to AWAKE, now is the time to AWAKE. Who cares about hte past, just awake RIGHT NOW. Rahab was a harlot in Jericho, but she didn’t miss her day of visitation. If God is visiting with your heart and soul today, don’t let it God. The Bible says awake thou that sleepest and Christ shall give thee light. Peter was imprisoned by Herod, seemingly in a hopeless state, but the angel of the Lord came and smote him on the side… that’s what we all need… let God smite you awake. We need to be AWAKENED… and that awaking might take receiving hard, scathing truth. We need to get wounded, so that then the Good Samaritan of our souls can pour oil in and heal our wounds and bind them up. Truth is good for us, even if it is tough. God might have to rip your life apart to get your attention… how dull of hearing are you? Let God deal with you, smite you… it will be worth it. It was worth it for Peter, he arose, he went forth, and followed the angel of the Lord. He was free! Jesus sets the prisoners free! Get up sleeping Christians, it is high time to awake, now is our salvation closer than we we first believed. Jesus is coming back, he says, Behold, I come quickly. He is the bright and morning star, let the day star arise in your hearts as the Bible says in 2 Peter. It’s time to awake to righteousness and sin not, it’s time to awake, both saved and unsaved, get right with God, believe God, trust God.. today is the day!

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