Kristen

Spiritually speaking this is what has happened to us as Christians.  Because of Jesus we have been rescued from the kingdom of darkness and brought into the Kingdom of Light.  We are now princes & princesses and joint heirs to the throne with Jesus.

Jesus took our place and entered into our world.  As a result we are given the opportunity to become princes and princesses of our Heavenly King.  We too have gone from Poor person to Princess.

There is a wonderful story in the Bible of another young man one who was taken from a life of a pauper to a life of a prince.  It is the story of Mephibosheth. This story is also a picture of what God has done for us. 

The story actually begins with David and Jonathan.  Jonathan was the son of King Saul. King Saul despised David and attempted to kill him several times.  David and Jonathan were close friends and Jonathan would try to protect David from his evil father. 

David and Jonathan decide to make a covenant together where they promise, no matter what happens, to bless and protect each other.  Jonathan asks that his family be included in the covenant so his children would also be covered if he were to die.

By doing this Jonathan became the covenant head of all that were to come after him in his family line.  David would bless and protect not only Jonathan but all who bear his name.  In a similar way Jesus has become our covenant head and we are blessed and protected because of Him.
We pick up the story of Mephibosheth in 2 Samuel 9 after the death of both King Saul and Jonathan. David is now the new king.

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? And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they had called him unto David, the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba? And he said, Thy servant is he. And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet. And the king said unto him, Where is he? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, in Lodebar. Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lodebar. Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face, and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold thy servant! 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. And he bowed himself, and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am? Then the king called to Ziba, Saul's servant, and said unto him, I have given unto thy master's son all that pertained to Saul and to all his house. Thou therefore, and thy sons, and thy servants, shall till the land for him, and thou shalt bring in the fruits, that thy master's son may have food to eat: but Mephibosheth thy master's son shall eat bread alway at my table. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. Then said Ziba unto the king, According to all that my lord the king hath commanded his servant, so shall thy servant do. As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table, as one of the king's sons. And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Micha. And all that dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants unto Mephibosheth. So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he did eat continually at the king's table; and was lame on both his feet.
(2Sa 9:1-13)

This is a great lesson for us today. 

LESSONS FOR TODAY

1. God is seeking to save and bless.

David is searching for members of Jonathans lost family.  His desire is to show kindness to them.  In the same way God is searching for people who are willing to become part of His family. 

Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."(NIV)

They find Mephibosheth living in the town of Lo Debar. He is crippled in both feet as a result of David coming to power. What happened, since he was King Saul’s grandson, when Saul died and David took over the throne the family fled from the palace because it was the practice to kill off all the members of the previous king’s family so they would not try to retake the throne.  In the haste to leave his nurse dropped him and broke both of his feet which left him a cripple for life.

Here he is living in a place called Lo Debar and he probably was filled with resentment toward David.  If it wasn’t for David he wouldn’t be crippled and he wouldn’t have to be in hiding.  He probably cursed David and hated David.

Then one day he is discovered and told King David wants to see him.  He probably thought it was all over.  He is as good as dead.  He is taken before David and instead of having his head cut off he finds kindness from this man he cursed.

David explained that because of the covenant he had made with Mephibosheth’s father, Jonathan, he would show him kindness.  Instead of giving him what he deserved he would give him what he didn’t deserve which was all the land and wealth of his grandfather King Saul and from now on he would eat with David at the Kings table.

Mephibosheth is overwhelmed and responds “Who am I that you should notice a dead dog like me?"

2. We are all undeserving of God’s love and forgiveness.

We all were in the same condition as Mephibosheth was. 
We were hiding in our sin
We too were like dead dogs when it came to being judged by God.  We all deserved to die for our sins, we didn’t deserve God’s forgiveness
Yet God found us and extended his hand of grace to us. 
We don’t deserve it, we didn’t earn it, we are not worthy of it.
We too were in rebellion against God

Isa 53:6   We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way…(NIV)

David wasn’t blessing Mephibosheth because he deserved it.

David was doing this because of Jonathan who had made a covenant with him.  It was because Jonathan had made a covenant for his family that Mephibosheth’s life was spared.  In the same way………..

3. God blesses and forgives us because of Jesus.

Jesus has become the covenant representative or head for all those who put their faith in Him.

God extends His forgiveness toward us, not because of who we are but because of our covenant head.  Because Jesus enter covenant for us through His death on the cross we are included in the blessing.

Titus 3:5-6   He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy…..through Jesus Christ our Savior. (NIV)

We are now invited to eat at the Kings table. 

We are no longer outcast dogs; instead we can come boldly into the very throne room of grace.

4.We actually become co-heirs with Christ

We can now use the authority and power of Jesus’ name.  We can now ask whatever we will because of Jesus.

We will inherit the riches of heaven with Jesus.  We are no longer poor people but princesses!

Rom 8:16-17 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs-- heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ…. (NIV)

This is an amazing and powerful truth.  It is one thing to be forgiven but it is another thing to be brought into the family with full privileges and inheritance.

There was one condition for Mephibosheth. He had to leave Lo Debar. 

4. If we are to walk in fellowship with Jesus we must leave our sinful life behind.

Mephibosheth could no longer live in Lo Debar if he was going to sit at the Kings table.  He now had to live in Jerusalem. 

He had to fully embrace the King if he wanted to be treated like a prince.

We can’t live like royalty if our hearts are still back in Egypt.

Acts 7:39 "But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. (NIV)

Have the things of Egypt made their way back into our hearts.
Have we turned back to Lo Debar
Have things encroached on our love for Jesus. 
Unforgiveness, sins, distractions from sitting at His table

If so take a moment to talk to God and get things clear again.

Lets remember we are all like Mephibosheth.  Undeserving of anything from God, yet we sit here today as Princess in the royal family.

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