Inspirations from the Funny Farm

2 Kings 22:11-13 When the king heard what was written in the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes in despair. Then he gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the court secretary, and Asaiah the king’s personal adviser:  “Go to the Temple and speak to the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah. Inquire about the words written in this scroll that has been found. For the Lord’s great anger is burning against us because our ancestors have not obeyed the words in this scroll. We have not been d/oing everything it says we must do.”

2 Kings 22;18-20 “But go to the king of Judah who sent you to seek the Lord and tell him: ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says concerning the message you have just heard: You were sorry and humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I said against this city and its people—that this land would be cursed and become desolate. You tore your clothing in despair and wept before me in repentance. And I have indeed heard you, says the Lord. So I will not send the promised disaster until after you have died and been buried in peace. You will not see the disaster I am going to bring on this city.’”

In the eighteenth year of the reign of King Josiah, he commissioned a group of people to make renovations and repair the temple of the Lord. While working on the temple, the workers discovered some of the scrolls of God’s Word. Josiah was only 26 years old at the time, but when these words were revealed to him, he tore his clothes in great despair. He was a good king, and he followed the ways of the Lord. However, when these words were revealed to him, he recognized how far the people had gone away from the ways of the Lord, and he was anguished. The really neat thing that we see here is that after Josiah heard the Word of God, he made some major reformations. He removed the mediums, idols, and all of the false gods. He was a man after God’s heart. 2 Kings 23:25 tells us “Never before had there been a king like Josiah, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and soul and strength, obeying all the laws of Moses. And there has never been a king like him since.” He turned to the Lord with all of his heart, his soul and his strength! Wow! Josiah must have been a wonderful king. Isn’t it amazing how reading and living the Word of God can change a person? In this case, the reading of God’s Word changed an entire kingdom.

This is what we need in our world today. We need to get back to the Word. We need to get back to the basics…the basics of reading the Word of God and actually following the instructions given to us in His Word. Our country has forgotten the true living Word. Everyone is doing their own thing. As long as it feels good, it must be okay, right? Wrong! If it’s not Biblical, it’s not something that we should morally accept as okay, y’all. We can’t keep loving and accepting sin as though it doesn’t exist. Don’t misinterpret my words here. I am NOT saying we should hate the sinner. We have all sinned, but thankfully we have a loving and forgiving Father. But, Peeps, we can’t keep loving the sin. We must love the sinner, but hate the sin. We have to stop changing the Word of God to fit our lifestyles, and we have to quit picking and choosing the parts of His Word that we want to follow while ignoring the rest. We have to get back to the basics of studying and following the Word. It’s the only way that this nation, this wonderful nation that was created as “one nation under God”, will ever survive.

In 1996, Pastor Joe Wright was asked to pray before the Kansas House of Representatives. Oh, they likely thought that they would get one of those cookie cutter prayers of blessings and praise. Well, Pastor Joe gave them their full monies worth! I venture to say that he probably wasn’t invited back. Here is a transcript of his prayer. “Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, “Woe to those who call evil good,” but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We confess: We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it pluralism. We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism. We have endorsed perversion and called it alternative lifestyle. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.
We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent to direct us to the center of your will. I ask it in the Name of Your Son, the living Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.”

The response to his prayer was immediate. A few of legislators walked out during the prayer in protest. It was NOT the prayer that they had expected, but it sure was the prayer that they needed. It is the prayer that we all need. This was spoken some 24 years ago, and yet we are seeing the same evil and sin today, but it has been multiplied and worsened. The Word of God is our sword. It is our instruction manual. It gives us all of the basic instructions we need. It gives us the law which is followed by the beautiful story of redemption. It promises rewards, but it also promises penalties for these sins. I’m pretty sure we should be anguished right now, tearing our clothes, putting on the sackcloth and ashes y’all. People if we don’t get back to the basics of loving our heavenly Father and following in His ways, we are headed down a very rocky road of destruction. God can’t keep turning His head. He’s not going to keep looking the other way. Let’s get in His Word today, and get back to the basics!

John 3:3 “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

I Peter 1:3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation.

2 Corinthians 5:17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

It’s that time of the year again. One of my favorite seasons has arrived. You may think I’m speaking of fall, but I’m not. It’s true I love fall, but I really love one of the farming seasons that begins during this time of year. We call it calving season. The cows are springing, bagging up, and dropping calves almost daily. We drive around the fields to locate the brand new babies and check on the soon to be mamas. We equate our calf seeking adventures to an Easter egg hunt at times. Our mama cows are pretty good at hiding their babies, and checking on the newly born calves can be a challenge. We purchased a new Hereford bull this year, and I have to tell you something, that boy is producing some beautiful calves. One of my favorite cows, Rosie, had the pretties little red heifer calf with white face and markings. She was born the day before hurricane Sally made landfall, so she has been named appropriately named Sally.

The actual process of calving, for the most part, is not a lot of work for the farmer. The mama does the work, and we get to enjoy the benefits. It is a beautiful experience to see new birth. The mama delivers the calf, and she immediately, gently cleans the baby up. She recognizes it as her own, and she will do whatever is necessary to protect the newborn calf. Although most deliveries are easy, from time to time, a mama cow will have difficulty. The calf may be a bit to big for her to deliver, and occasionally, the calf will have to physically be pulled out. I’ve not had to be a part of pulling a calf before. My husband, sons, and father-in-law always assume this role. I have had to pull a baby goat before, and that was super tough. I can only imagine how difficult it is to physically pull a calf out. What a way to arrive in this world…being tugged and pulled, resisting the change, not wanting to make the effort for the birthing process, resisting rather than arriving in a peaceful and gentle way.

Why would the baby want to leave the warm comfort of his or her mother’s womb and enter a strange, new, big unknown place? Who could blame the calf for wanting to stay put? I was considering that idea this morning, and began to think about humans and our need for rebirth. We create this warm, comfortable womb for ourselves. We have developed habits and attitudes, and we become fairly comfortable with the way things are. The world around us says live however you want. If you are happy then it is okay. We have adapted way too much to the worldly culture. A part within us may want to follow Christ, but we resist the need to change. We are too comfortable living our lives, and our hearts have to be tugged and pulled by the Holy Spirit because we refuse to make the effort on our own. But y’all, in order for us to receive the gift of salvation, we must be reborn.

Fortunately for us, being reborn is so much easier than the pulling a resistant calf. No one is going to tie our legs together and pull us out of the womb. So why are we kicking and screaming and fighting the rebirthing process? The kingdom of God requires that we leave our comfort zone. We have to completely die to ourselves and begin living for Christ. That sounds strange. How do we die to ourselves? We have to come to the end of ourselves. We have to recognize that we can’t do anything without our heavenly Father. We must become new creations and children of the King. We must give our hearts completely to the Lord.

In the mission field, I have had people tell me many times that they were waiting for a certain age to arrive, and then at that point, they would come to Christ and be saved. This was one of the answers I received frequently while ministering in the Dominican Republic. The people seemed to have a mind set that you had to reach a certain age, eliminate all of the sin in life, and become a better person, or perhaps they thought that they had to give up their comfortable way of living for self. When I questioned why they needed to wait for a certain age (usually around 40) the answer was frequently something to the effect of “I’m not good enough yet. I’ll be a better person by such and such age.” People, it doesn’t work that way. We can never be good enough. We have to recognize the fact that we are all born sinners, but because of Christ, we can all be sinners saved by grace. All we have to do is admit that we are sinners, believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins and was resurrected, and confess that Jesus is the Lord of our lives and commit our lives to Him. When we do that, the Father immediately, gently reaches down and cleans us up, and He recognizes us as one of His own. He will provide all the protection that we need. A wonderful thing happens at this point. The Holy Spirit of our living God takes up residence within us. That heart of stone we were carrying around that felt like an empty void is now beating for the Lord and full of life. That void we failed to fill despite our many efforts is now completely full. We didn’t do anything to earn this rebirth. We couldn’t possibly ever be good enough to deserve salvation. But God! Oh but God! He loves us so much that He desires a close and personal relationship with us, and He made a way.

To be reborn, we don’t have to clean our act up first. If we accept Christ as our Savior, He will do the cleaning up. The Holy Spirit will gently guide you in the right direction. He’ll nudge you here and there and let you know when sin appears, and He will strengthen you so that you can overcome the sin struggles. A new baby calf is one of the cutest things on the farm. When he first stands, his long little legs wobble as he tries to walk over to mama to nurse. Baby steps. Unsteady. Off balance. He struggles a bit, but soon he is latching on to mama and filling his belly with the milk of life. As young Christians, we are going to struggle. We also must take baby steps. We will feel unsteady, off balance, and unsure, and I’m not going to tell you that it won’t be a struggle. That enemy that controlled the old sin life will try to battle with us. He won’t give up easily, but there is no reason to fret. Our Savior has already defeated the enemy, and now we belong to God. We begin praying and speaking to the Lord. We latch on to His word, and soon, we too are filled with the milk of life, and we receive that much needed spiritual nourishment that only our Savior can provide.

Just as that baby calf grows into a healthy strong bull, a reborn person too will grow healthy and strong in spirit. It won’t happen over night. We can’t be reborn one day and know all we need to know about Christ the next. In fact, we will never know all that we need to know, but we can rest assured that we are no longer walking in the dark. We are no longer that old shell of a person. We are now new in Christ, and we are walking with Him. We grow by reading His Word, going to church, joining Bible studies, surrounding ourselves with Christian friends that help us stay on the path as we begin our walk, and we praise God and pray and pray and pray. God never said it would be easy. If you’ve read the Bible you already know that it won’t be easy. Actually, it’s going to be pretty hard. There will be struggles. I guarantee that there will be struggles. But one thing that I know for certain is that it will most definitely be worth it! Consider the hardest day of work that you ever put in during your lifetime. You thought that you couldn’t make it until quitting time, but you did. You got off work and went to the place you feel most at ease…home. Right now, Peeps, we are going through some of the hardest days of our lives. We may feel like we aren’t going to make it, but we will. And when our time here is finished, we get to go the best place ever…our heavenly home! It’s not going to be easy, but just remember that it will be worth it!

I Thessalonians 5: 18 Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 3:15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

Psalm 107:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Psalm 95:2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.

This past Sunday night, our church family spent a wonderful evening sharing testimonies of how God has been faithful through this pandemic. We recognized that the pandemic was not over, but several members shared experiences of how truly faithful our Father has been through this storm and the many storms of life that come our way. Then last night, on my drive home from work, I listened to a sermon about gratitude, and I began thinking about how grateful I am that I have Jesus, and how truly grateful I am that I have experienced His grace, His mercy, His love, and His faithfulness.

When this pandemic began, I was worried. I panicked. I anxiously gathered research on a virus that hadn’t yet been researched. I soon learned that this crazy virus didn’t read any of the textbooks, and it didn’t seem to follow the pattern of our typical viruses. It scared me. I, personally, was not afraid of catching the virus. I was afraid of bringing it home to my family. I worked diligently to protect myself with all of the medical armor that we call PPE, washed my hands fervently, and practiced safely. I continue these practices more than six months later. Over these past few months, I have learned a few things about gratitude, and I have definitely grown closer in my walk with the Lord. I learned to pray Psalm 91, and I learned to dwell in the shelter of the Most High. (Take some time to read and pray this Psalm. You can thank me later. LOL)

First of all, during this pandemic I have learned to look up. That may sound silly, but it’s the truth. When my body and soul seemed to be washing away in a sea of anxiety, I learned to look to Christ. I prayed more (if that is possible), I studied the Word more, and I began writing a daily devotional to encourage myself, and hoped that my ramblings would encourage others as well. I drew strength from this practice. The fear, anxieties, and worry regarding the unknown slowly turned into calm, peace, and less worrying about the unknown as I was gradually reassured by my heavenly Father that I didn’t need to know everything because He already had everything under control. I’ve always been one who thought I needed to be in total control of every situation. I have never sought the use of drugs or alcohol because I have always wanted to be in full control of myself, and I have a bad habit of wanting to control all the situations that arise in my life. When I look up, I recognize that I don’t have to be in control, and actually, I’m not ever truly in control. God alone is in control. Not me. Try as I may, I can’t control things. I’ve learned to look up, let go, and let God do His thing. He does a much better job than I do at any rate.

Another thing this pandemic has taught me is to look around. How has this pandemic changed things around me? Well, I’ll start with a few changes that I don’t really care for. The economy is struggling. People have lost jobs. Businesses are closing. Our elderly in the nursing homes are isolated and alone. People are depressed. Those things are bad. There is no doubt about it. But I ask myself, have I seen anything good come from this pandemic? As I look around me, I do in fact see positive changes. I see the goodness of God. Families have started being families again. Families are learning to spend time together, gather around the table, play games, watch movies, cook meals together, and enjoy outdoor activities together. Pre-pandemic, everyone was busy going in their own direction, and everyone was running ninety to nothing to accomplish everything on their plate for the day. During the pandemic, because of closures and distancing, families are learning to be the family unit that God intended. I look around and see that God has blessed me so much through this storm. My family and I have remained healthy. I have retained my job. We have not done without. We may be more isolated than before, but we’ve reignited the family unit, and we’ve learned to let God lead. I’ve felt God ever present all around me throughout this difficult time.

Lastly, the pandemic has taught me to look within. How have I changed on the inside? Oh my, I’ve grown so much spiritually over the past six months. As I mentioned earlier, I began writing these daily devotionals to encourage myself and others through this storm. In doing so, I have challenged myself to really dig into the amazing Word of God on a daily basis. I start off each day praising and praying to God, and I finish my morning prayers by asking God to give me a word, a word to share. Guess what, Peeps? I figured that I would run out of things to write about after a month or two, but here I sit…still sharing words that I feel God is leading me to share. Oh, I don’t profess to be a prophet of any kind, but rather I have changed my habit of just talking to God to one of asking to hear from Him. I don’t hear the audible voice of God. A word will pop in my head, and from that word an idea flows, and from that idea, scripture research begins, and slowly but surely words appear on a computer screen. I read over the words, and I think, “Wow, God! That’s something I really needed to teach myself today!” He has been molding me, growing me, teaching me, and training me through this pandemic. I can’t start the day any longer without His Word. It truly is my sword that I use throughout each and every day as I battle the challenges that come my way.

We don’t know why we are going through this storm, but we know the One who can speak and calm the winds and the waters with merely the sound of His voice. When we look up, look around, and look within, we can’t help but see the glory of God everywhere. Maybe, just maybe, He is allowing this storm to occur to bring us back to Him. Maybe we needed this storm to learn to be totally dependent on the Father. Maybe we needed this storm to remember how to be a family. Maybe we needed this storm to remind us to get into God’s Word. All bad things that happen to us aren’t necessarily bad things. There is usually something good to be found in each circumstance, and there is always, always something to be grateful for. Today, I challenge you to develop an attitude of gratitude. When things seem to be falling apart, just remember the One who is holding everything together. God’s got this. God’s got you! Be grateful today!

Psalm 118:24 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Philippians 31:1 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord.

Sometimes I feel tired, y’all. I’m tired of the pandemic, the riots and violence, the hurricanes and tropical storms, and the political battles. I woke up this morning with this thought, “Today, I’m going to rejoice in the Lord.” Why? I’m going to rejoice because I’m tired of not rejoicing. I woke up this morning to dreary skies, a light sprinkling rain, and gloominess all around, but the temperatures are much cooler with 64 degrees with a gentle breeze blowing. It feels so nice outside. We’ve had a very long, hot summer, and I am super excited about fall. There is a reason to rejoice. I’m healthy and my family is healthy. There is another reason to rejoice. I’ve got a nice roof over my head, clothes on my body, a functional vehicle, and a great job. Wow, there are a few more good reasons to rejoice. Yet, there is still one greater reason. The Lord made this day. He created this day for you and for me. He created another day for each of us to get up, get dressed, and get out there and glorify Him. That’s a great reason to rejoice!

Paul wrote repeatedly in his letter to the Philippian church to rejoice in the Lord. He recognized that this attitude was one that brought peace to a believer, and also it is an attitude that is a true mark of the spirit filled life. In Philippians 2:14-16 he writes, “Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.” As Christians, we can’t go around grumbling, complaining, arguing, and disputing with others. If we are spending all of our time bitter and angry, are we really the children of God? Do we look like children of God? As God’s kids, we can’t help but rejoice in Him and all that He has blessed us with. We have to shine as lights in the gray dreary world and reflect the Son of God.

I know that we have had a lot of things to frown about over the past year, but we still have the ever present Holy Spirit of the living God within us, and the thought of this should turn any frown upside down. The mark of a Christian shouldn’t be a solemn face with a look of distress and anguish. The mark of a Christian should be a great big smile on the face of a person who is so full of Christ that the light of Christ shines through in the facial expressions, the mood, and the behavior. If we look around, we may not see very many things that make us want to smile. If we look at the world, we may want to frown or even cry, but if we look within, the Holy Spirit within us will always turn that frown upside down.

When Paul wrote these words to the Philippians encouraging them to rejoice in the Lord, he wasn’t sitting in his comfortable home on a cushy sofa with his feet propped up. Rather he was locked up in a prison in the Roman Empire. We think we have had it bad this year? Paul knew what bad was, yet he chose to rejoice. He didn’t say rejoice over the bad stuff you are going through. He said to rejoice in the Lord. He didn’t tell us that tragedy would not occur. He didn’t tell us to rejoice over the tragedies. He told us to rejoice in the Lord. No matter what circumstances we are enduring, we must continue to rejoice in the Lord!

Do you feel like it’s hard to rejoice in the midst of the chaos? We are all human, and understandably it’s hard to wake up full of joy every day. How do we do it? How can we find joy in the seemingly endless unjoyful days. The psalmist tells us in Psalm 42:5-6. “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you.” We have to remember where our hope lies. Hope does not lie in the things of this world. Our hope is in God. He has given us the gift of salvation, and although things appear grim and joy seems to be trying to escape us, all that we have to do is remember Him. Hang on to the joy that we can only find in Jesus. Hold onto hope in God. We have been given the greatest gift in the world: SALVATION. This crazy messed up world is not our permanent home. We are just passing through. We are promised a heavenly home with our God. We can handle all of the stressors of the day, the bad news, the fake news, the little aggravations and the big annoyances of each day because we have been saved by grace. Yes, we can rejoice in the Lord!

I’ll leave you with a song by Shelly and Ron Hamilton called Rejoice in the Lord, “God never moves without purpose or plan when trying His servant and molding a man. Give thanks to the Lord though your testing seems long, in darkness He giveth a song. O Rejoice in the Lord
He makes no mistake. He knoweth the end of each path that I take. For when I am tried
and purified, I shall come forth as gold. I could not see through the shadows ahead so I looked at the cross of my Savior instead. I bowed to the will of the Master that day, then peace came and tears fled away. Now I can see testing comes from above. God strengthens His children and purges in love. My Father knows…” You see, it may seem that we are going through the test of a life time, and that the testing is lasting forever. Nothing is happening by happen chance. The Lord is always in control, and though we may feel like we are in the fire right now, we can rest assured that we will come out purified. We can’t see what is ahead, but our Father already knows what the future holds, and we know Who holds the future.

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!

John 3:16-17 (NLT) For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

Romans 8:38-39 (NLT) And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.  No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Jesus loves me; this I know! For the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong; they are weak, but He is strong. Jesus loves me, loves me still! Tho’ I’m very weak and ill. That I might from sin be free, bled and died upon the tree. Jesus loves me; He who died. Heaven’s gate to open wide. He will wash away my sin; let His little child come in. Jesus loves me; He will stay! Close beside me all way. Thou hast bled and died for me; I will henceforth live for Thee. Chorus: Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so. I bet that almost everyone reading this knows this song by heart. We sang it from our very earliest days of childhood. It was written by the author named Anna Bartlett Warner (August 31, 1827 – January 22, 1915.) What I didn’t know was that it wasn’t originally written as a song. It was written as a poem in a novel. The main character in this book recites it to comfort a dying child about how much Jesus loves him. WE can have that same comfort! Jesus loves me, and He loves you too.

Isn’t it a wonderful feeling to know that no matter what we are enduring, Jesus loves us and He is still with us? Today, I want to talk about love, and I’m going to need you to get a piece of paper in hand as we begin to play a little game that I just made up on this rainy Sunday morning. I’m calling my game “Three Little Things.” The first step in the game is to ask the one you love to tell you three things that he or she loves about you. It can be your spouse, best friend, mother, father, or anyone that you love. Ask them to be honest. Next, write down three things that you love about that person. After you complete that list, I want you to write down three things that you love about yourself. Then write three things that you love about Christ. Finally write down three things that show you that Christ loves you.

As soon as my husband woke up this morning, I handed him a piece of paper that read, “Three Things Jeff Loves About KK.” He’s a good sport, y’all. He had barely opened his eyes, when I asked him to do this. I love this man, and I know that he loves me, but when you put someone on the spot to actually put pen to paper, you can’t be sure what you are going to get. His answers amazed me. His three answers were “1. Devoted to her family and friends. 2. Gives of her time regardless of cost. 3. God fearing and relentless to bring souls to Christ.” I don’t know about all that. When I look at myself, I don’t see myself the same way. Oh, I’m devoted to my family and friends. There is no doubt about that, but do I give of my time regardless of cost? Maybe, but sometimes, to be honest, I don’t do it out of the goodness of my heart. Sometimes, I do what I have to do because I have to do it. LOL. And I am God fearing, but am I relentless to bring souls to Christ? Oh goodness, I feel like I come up short all of the time.

I think the second part of this little game is the easiest part for me. I can make a list a mile long telling you all the things I love about my husband. As a matter of fact, I had a little book printed for him for Valentine’s Day a few years ago that listed 100 things I love about Jeff. It was a little cartoon stick figure book. I spent a day writing down all of the things that I love about him. It’s hard to pick just three. I love the way that he loves me, our family, and God. He has so much energy. He is funny, creative, and caring. He has a true servant’s heart. This list could go on for days, y’all, so I’m going to get back to the game. The third part of the game is actually the hardest for me. What are three things I love about myself? Ugh! I look in the mirror and I see this almost 54 year old lady staring back at me. The hair is graying, and needs to be colored. The wrinkles are appearing faster every year. The twenty year old body is gone with the years, and nothing can bring it back. It’s a good thing that I never really loved my looks. I’ve never been a girl who was proud of her looks. What do I love about me? That’s tough. I love that although I am a sinner, I have been saved by grace. I love that I am a nurse practitioner, and that I get to do a job that I love. I love that I am a wife, mother, grandmother, farmer, author, and Christian. I love who I am on the inside…most of the time. The outside, well that shell of a being needs some work with that crazy hair that doesn’t seem to care how I think it should behave.

The next part of the game gets easy again. What are three things I love about Christ? Oh my! How can I keep that list to three things? He died for me! I’ve got some truly awesome loving people in my life, but none of them have had to die for my sins! Christ knew that I was a sinner and He died for me. He knew all of the good, bad, and ugly within me, yet He still chose to die for me. I love that He is a forgiving Savior. He knew when He created this girl that I was going to be a handful. He knew I was going to mess up multiple times, and no matter how many times I mess up, He still forgives my sins. He is always there to pick me up. He is my friend, Savior, Creator, Holy Father, Lord of lords, King of kings, Waymaker, Miracle Worker, Promise Keeper, my God! What is there not to love about Christ!?! The list is infinite!

Now, I bring you to the final part of our game this morning. What are three things that show me that Christ loves me. Let’s first turn to John 3:16-17 which reads, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.” God sent His Son, Christ, to die on the cross for each of us so that we may have eternal life. He didn’t send Him to judge us, but to SAVE us! Christ died an agonizing death on the cross, taking on your sins and my sins and all of the sins of the world so that we might have everlasting life! If that doesn’t get your heart beating, nothing will. He loves us so much that He gave us His Word. The Bible, the oldest book in the world, was penned by man, but breathed by God. He gave us a written instruction manual for life, and a book that shares the redemption story so that all sinners, all people, can come to know Christ as their Lord and Savior. Thirdly, nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. NOTHING! Romans 8:38-39 assures us of this. “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

We’ve completed this little exercise to look at love from different perspectives. How do others see us, how do we see others, how do we see ourselves, how do we see Christ, and how much Christ loves u?. Dwell on love as you go through this day, but most importantly, dwell on Christ. If you have accepted Him as your Savior, the Holy Spirit of the living God is residing within you. He loves you, and that my friends is where it’s at! Jesus loves me this I know, and that’s all I really need to know. I am His. He is mine. I am loved and you are too!

John 10:14 (NLT) “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me,”

Isaiah 40:11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms,
holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.

Luke 12:32 (NLT) So don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom.

On our farm, we have bottle fed a vast number of critters including deer, skunks, raccoons, squirrels, coatimundi, a wild hog piglet, goats, and cows, just to name a few. The first lamb that I bottle fed was a sweet little American Blackbelly that I named Juliette. I don’t know if you are familiar with this breed or not, but I think they may have a genetic makeup similar to that of a wild deer. They are able to run fast and jump extremely high. They dance around with great joy, and that little girl, Juliette, danced all over me while I tried to teach her to take a bottle. I had little hoof prints in various shades of color from deep purple to pale green covering both of my legs. She danced and danced as I struggled with trying to get her to take the bottle. I think it took almost two weeks before she was really good at it…taking the bottle that is, not dancing on my legs for she was inherently great at dancing! After a while, all I had to do was walk into her line of vision, and she ran to me to get to the bottle. We developed a very special bond, and she knew that I loved her. I was her human, and she was my lamb.

Sheep are an interesting breed, and they are quite peculiar at times. Most ewes are great mothers, but every once in a great while, a ewe will decide to not take its lamb for whatever reason. They call this little rejected lamb a bummer lamb. The lamb will even look rejected, his head will hang low, and he appears distraught and alone. The mama ewe may kick the lamb away, and she will refuse to let him nurse. If that baby lamb doesn’t get some much needed nourishment, she will soon perish. That is when the shepherd comes to the rescue. The shepherd watches his flocks closely, and when he recognizes a bummer lamb in the flock, he will gently pick the lamb up and take it to safety. He will adopt the lamb. He may even bring that little lamb into his house. (I’m guilty of keeping the bottle babies in my home many times in the past.) The shepherd will gently warm the baby, hold the lamb next to his heart so that he can hear the heartbeat of the one who is trying to rescue him, and then the shepherd will provide much needed nourishment for the lamb as he bottle feeds him and cares for his every need. Once the little lamb is strong enough, the shepherd will re-introduce him into the flock.

When the lamb is now in the midst of the flock, he never forgets what the shepherd did for him. When the shepherd checks on the flock, that little rescued lamb will run full speed ahead to get ahead of the rest of the flock so that he can greet the shepherd. Why does he run happily to the shepherd? Because he knows that once he was a rejected lamb, but now he has become a chosen sheep. The shepherd chose to adopt him, care for him, and love him. He recognizes the voice of the shepherd, and he runs to him. He knows the shepherd’s voice. He grew up knowing that this person cared enough about him to rescue him. The shepherd loves all of his sheep, and he would do the same for any little rejected lamb. He didn’t love this lamb more, but this little lamb sure loves the shepherd. Why? Because he knows the shepherd intimately. He spend time in his arms. He heard the heartbeat of the shepherd. He felt unconditional love of his adopted human parent.

We could learn a lot from a little bummer lamb. We may sometimes feel like we have been rejected by the world. It may feel like we’ve been given a pretty crummy deal. We may feel alone, lost, and in great need of rescue, but there is no reason to fret because this is where the good Shepherd comes in. He is watching and waiting for us. He knows that we have been rejected, and He devised a great plan to provide rescue. He is ready to gently pick us up and carry us, holding us close to His heart. He wants to adopt us into His family. He wants to make us heirs to His throne. He loves each and everyone of us so much so that He sent His Son as the perfect, unblemished lamb of God, to be the ultimate sacrifice on the cross so that each of us could be rescued.

When the Shepherd speaks, do you recognize His voice? When He calls your name, do you run to Him? Do you know Him intimately? Do you remember the warmth of His touch, the feeling of complete safety as He held you gently in His arms? Do you know the Great Shepherd? Oh, Peeps, if you don’t, you have to get to know Him today! He will not reject you. No matter how far you’ve strayed from the flock, no matter how rejected, alone, lonely or defeated you feel, He is waiting and watching. He is ready to rescue you! Won’t you be a little bummer lamb today and let the Great Shepherd scoop you, hold you close to His heart, and provide the ultimate rescue for your life? It feels mighty good to be a bummer lamb rescued by the Great Shepherd!

Numbers 22:28-35 Then the Lord gave the donkey the ability to speak. “What have I done to you that deserves your beating me three times?” it asked Balaam. “You have made me look like a fool!” Balaam shouted. “If I had a sword with me, I would kill you!” “But I am the same donkey you have ridden all your life,” the donkey answered. “Have I ever done anything like this before?” “No,” Balaam admitted. Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the roadway with a drawn sword in his hand. Balaam bowed his head and fell face down on the ground before him. “Why did you beat your donkey those three times?” the angel of the Lord demanded. “Look, I have come to block your way because you are stubbornly resisting me. Three times the donkey saw me and shied away; otherwise, I would certainly have killed you by now and spared the donkey.” Then Balaam confessed to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned. I didn’t realize you were standing in the road to block my way. I will return home if you are against my going.” But the angel of the Lord told Balaam, “Go with these men, but say only what I tell you to say.” So Balaam went on with Balak’s officials. 

I love the story of Balaam and his talking donkey. Everyone that knows me, knows that I love animals in a huge way. I talk to my animals all the time, and I think that some of them understand me. I know that my Bouvier des Flandres, Sophie, understands me. She is such a smart girl. My animals converse with me, but not with spoken words in English. They speak their animal barks, moos, and cock-a-doodle-dos. Sometimes, I know what they are trying to tell me, and I can almost hear what they are saying, but I’m no Dr. Dolittle. Life would be so much simpler down at the barn if the animals spoke English, and I know it would be a whole lot more interesting. Balaam had quite an interesting and eye opening experience with the only real life talking donkey.

The Moabites and Midianites were afraid. They knew about Israel’s victories, and they feared that they were going to be the next people over run by them. They wanted some supernatural help so they sought the assistance of Balaam. They knew who Balaam was, and they wanted him to come and curse the people of Israel. However, God told Balaam not to curse His people. Balak received word that Balaam said he could not come and curse the people, and he decided to sweeten the deal. He promised Balaam a lot of money. Balaam left on his donkey en route to deliver the cursing, but his donkey tried three times to stop him. First, the donkey went off of the road and into a field. Next, the donkey got too close to a wall and crushed the foot of Balaam against the wall. Finally, the donkey laid down on Balaam. At this point, Balaam became very angry and struck the donkey a third time. The funniest thing happened next. The donkey looked at Balaam and spoke. I could just hear the donkey saying, “Dude, what is wrong with you!”

I love this story because it is so unlike God, and it reminds us that God is in total control and that he has a sense of humor. He wants to communicate with us, and if we aren’t listening to His voice, He may just open the mouth of a donkey. God is so creative. God uses a variety of means to speak to us, and we must be willing to hear from Him. When God asks us to do something, He wants us to obey. Balaam started off on the right track. God told him not to go to curse the people of Israel, and he stayed put, but then the deal was sweetened. The enemy works this way. If he can’t win you over one way, he will come back to you again and again with a sweeter deal each time and try to break your resolve. Don’t fall for it. Continue to obey God, and don’t listen to the enemy.

Another thing to consider about this story, is that when we are walking (or riding a donkey) outside of the will of God, many times He will put up some roadblocks. He may have to put up more than one, but God is going to get our attention one way or another. If we are going the wrong way, God will stand in the road to oppose us. He loves us. He doesn’t want us going down a road of destruction or a road that leads away from Him. He will do whatever is necessary to make us turn around. I can recount many memories of times when things didn’t go as planned. I’ve often shared the story of when I wasn’t accepted into the acute care nurse practitioner program after completing my bachelor’s in nursing. I was so upset. I had a 4.0 GPA, several years of experience in critical care, and a sparkling resume. There was no reason that I should not have been accepted. I was angry, I was hurt. I even cried like a baby. I eventually dried my tears, and I applied for the family nurse practitioner track, and I was accepted immediately. It wasn’t until a long while later that I realized that God changed my path. That was more than 20 years ago, and had I completed the acute care program, I would have had to move away from my family and friends. There were no acute care nurse practitioner jobs available in my area back then. And the “all knowing” me didn’t want to do family practice because critical care was all that I really knew up until that point. Little did I know that my God already knew just what and where I needed to be. I absolutely love being a family nurse practitioner. I feel like it is a calling from God. I interact with entire families on a daily basis, and I get to share Christ…on the job! I’m so thankful He put that roadblock in my path. His plans are always so much better than mine!

Lastly, let us consider Balaam’s actions. The donkey was trying to protect Balaam. He saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road blocking the way, but Balaam could not see the angel. The donkey tried three times to avoid running into the angel, and three times Balaam beat his good old donkey. God placed a roadblock right in front of him, and he couldn’t see it, and instead of trying to figure out why his donkey was acting out of sorts, he did as we do many times and became angry and struck the source of his irritation. God tries to get our attention, and when we don’t listen, He tries again and again, and before we know it, we are beating the donkey, the wrong donkey, who is an innocent victim. We begin to lash out at others, and we blame other people in our lives for our bad circumstances rather than looking inward to try to determine why things are as they are.

If God is calling you in a certain direction, run to Him. Don’t compromise on that calling. If you’ve got a burr in your saddle, maybe you should try to remove the burr by finding out the source of the irritation. Is God putting it there to protect you and put you back on the right track? Don’t strike others and blame them when things are going wrong because something in your own life needs to be corrected. Instead, sit down and have a talk with God. Open His Word. I bet He is just waiting to hear from you right now! God desires a relationship with each of us, and if we are straying from Him, He may not open the mouth of a donkey to get our attention, but I guarantee you that He will get our attention because He loves us that much!

Ephesians 4:31-32 (NLT) Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.  Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

Isaiah 43:18-19 (NLT) But forget all that— it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness.  I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.

Hebrews 13:8 (NLT) Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

I’m sitting here in a rocking chair on my front porch witnessing the early signs of fall. The birds are singing, and there is a very light hint of coolness in the air. Brown leaves are already beginning to gather around the yard. The fruit tree leaves are rapidly changing from brilliant deep greens to golden yellow as they prepare to let go. We live in the middle of eighty park like acres, so as you can imagine, we have a lot of trees. Of all those trees, I have my one favorite little tree. It is a Japanese Maple that I bought as a little seedling many moons ago. When my husband and I married, we dug up that little tree and planted it in our front yard. It was supposed to be one of those maples with the beautiful, dark maroon leaves, but surprise…it did not grow into the tree that I planned it to be. It grew into one that is so much better. In the very earliest days of spring, little green leaves begin to develop and grow. Before long, the little maple is covered with beautiful green leaves and those leaves provide a much needed shade for the front yard and bring comfort for our morning porch sitting sessions. It really is a beautiful tree with all of those lovely green leaves, the branches stand high, reaching for the sky, boldly and beautifully. Yes, that little tree looks like it’s got it all together, but it doesn’t really begin to shine until it prepares to let go of its leaves. That sounds crazy, I know, but it is the truth. Every year, right before Thanksgiving, those pretty green leaves begin to turn, and for a few short weeks, that maple tree becomes the most beautiful fixture in our yard. The leaves gradually change into splendid shades of gold and orange. I marvel at the beauty of it every single year. I delight at looking at that tree when I drive up after a long day or even if I’m just sitting on the porch rocking. The marvelous beauty of the fall colors only last a few weeks though, and eventually that little maple tree stands there with its branches held high as though it was raising its arms to the sky, bare, empty, and colorless.

If I saw that tree during the winter season, I would have never wanted to bring it home. I would have thought that it was a sad, boring little tree. I would not have realized that a total transformation had recently occurred, and could not imagine the transformation that was soon to come when the spring season returned. We could learn a lot from this little tree. It doesn’t stubbornly hold on to its dead leaves. It drops them to the ground letting go of the old season of life while it anxiously awaits for the new season. Consider that for a moment. We also go through seasons of change, and the seasons change us. We can not cling to the past. We have to get rid of all the bitterness, anger, and every form of malice, and learn to be kind and compassionate to one and be forgiving just as Paul told the Ephesians. As humans we often want to hold on to the things of the past. We sometimes want to live in the past because we feel like those were the best times of our lives. Others want to forget the past because it felt like the worse time of their lives. It is okay to remember the past, rejoice in those fond memories and learn from the mistakes, but we can’t set up house there. That season has passed, we grew during that season, but we have to let those leaves fall. We can’t cling to the old leaves. They have to fall to the ground so that we can make room for the new season that is just around the corner.

That Japanese Maple is like a picture of what Jesus does in our lives. We go through all kinds of seasons. We start off tiny, weak and small, and we have no clue how we will look as we grow and mature. As kids, we develop dreams of who and what we will become, and before we know it, we are all grown up, and things don’t look anything like we thought we would. We aren’t doing what we had planned to do while we were still in our youth, but as we look within ourselves, we realize that we are so much better than what we dreamed of. We have survived many seasons. Some of those seasons were hard. We endured loss of loved ones, break ups, loneliness, financial strain, sickness, and grief. We may have fallen down, but we did not give up. We grew stronger in those seasons. The seasons changed us. We have also been through some really great seasons that were beautiful, bright, and marvelous that brought so much richness to our lives and the lives around us. Those seasons passed, and we recognized the beautiful changes that occurred as we grew in love, happiness, and grace. Sometimes, the Lord sends a season so that we have to make a change. We can’t remain the same. We may get complacent and lazy, and Jesus may send a new season to make us let go and let Him take the lead in our lives. He knows that there is strength in our branches. He wants us to look up to Him, let go of things that are not of Him, and see things in a new light and perspective.

When we get bogged down in the hard, winter seasons of life, and it feels like we have lost all of our brilliant color, and there is nothing left but the dull, gray branches reaching upward. It is then that we might just find ourselves right where the Lord wants us to be as He prepares us for the best season yet. We can always rest in the Word of God. Just look at these words from the book of Isaiah, “But forget all that— it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness.  I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” Christ is preparing you. He is getting you ready for a great work. He may be pruning you now, and pruning hurts, but the pruning will bring forth new vines and much fruit. Let it go, and let God take the lead. This year feels like it has been one very long season of fall….one great fall after the other…but the Master Gardener is working everything out for our good and His glory. Hang on. Enjoy the fall. Marvel at the changes that are occurring within you as our Lord prepares you for the next great season!

Galations 2:16-21 (NLT) Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.  But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not!  Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down.  For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God.  My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.

My daddy is a wonderful christian man. We know that there was only one perfect Man who walked this earth, and His name was Jesus. Daddy isn’t perfect, but I know that my daddy has been made right through the blood of Jesus Christ. He loves to tell others about Christ. He helped to build the foundation for me to become the believer that I am today, and I want to be a witness like he is to others. He told me once that his goal is to share the plan of salvation with someone at least once every single day. When he told me that, I thought, “Wow, I want to be just like him!” Last week, a pastor caused my daddy to have a bit of a spiritual battle, and it had to do with legalism. I’m not a pastor. I don’t have a theological degree. I’m just a nurse practitioner and a farmer who has a heart for Christ and for sharing His word with others, but it is my opinion from studying God’s Word that grace defeats legalism every time.

My daddy was raised in a Landmark Missionary Baptist Church. Actually, the church formed in my grandparents’, his parents’, home. They were charter members. It is still a wonderful church, and we have visited from time to time. They preach the word, no doubt. As young children, we attended a Southern Baptist Church, and in our teen years, we attended another Missionary Baptist Church. We were fed the gospel at both churches. I loved both churches. I grew in my faith at both churches. The church ordinances may have differed, but the fact remains that the gospel was being preached at both churches. Did difference in ordinances make one church wrong and one church right? I’m not here to determine that. My belief is that if a pastor/preacher is preaching and teaching the Word of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ, then that church is doing the right thing. How do we determine that the truth is being preached? Well, we have to study the Word of God ourselves. Back to my story, this man told Daddy that the women at the church Daddy attends wear lipstick, cut their hair, wear pants, and sometimes even wear shorts, and therefore, it is wrong for him to attend that church. Y’all don’t pull out your stones or torches just yet, but I’m going to tell you about me. This girl right here wears lipstick, cuts her hair, wears pants, and yes, on a hot summer day in south Mississippi, this girl even wears shorts! BUT, BIG BUT, not little but, this girl also loves Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior more than anything else in this world. Am I going to die and go to hell because “the rules” of my church are different than “the rules” of another church? I must answer emphatically–NO! I know that my eternal home is in heaven. There is not even a shadow of a doubt in my mind!

I prayed a lot before I wrote this today. I don’t want anyone to think that I am making light of the choice of church in which one chooses to be a member. I merely want to point out that Baptists won’t be the only ones in heaven, y’all. And it won’t just be Missionary Baptists walking through those pearly gates. There will be Southern Baptists, Methodists, Non-denominationals, and Pentecostals there too! God isn’t going to just call one church home. He is going to call THE CHURCH. You don’t get to heaven by attending a certain church on Sunday and following the ordinances of that church. You get to heaven by placing faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. It’s a free gift of grace that was given to each of us when His blood poured out on the cross.

Legalism leads with the law rather than the gospel. The gospel stands on it’s own. It doesn’t need any help from us to give it strength. Paul reminds us of this in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” We can’t work our way into heaven, but we work for the gospel and Christ because of the gracious gift of salvation. But if works are taking the lead over the gospel of Jesus Christ, this is legalism. It’s human nature to distort the glorious truths of God, and I think we have all been guilty of trying to misuse that free gift of grace. God has given us all that we need for godliness. We desire to live for Christ, and we have deep convictions that the sins in our life dishonor God. But sometimes, in the midst of our pursuit for godliness, we forget that it is only by the grace of God that we can live for Him. Unfortunately, we sometimes tend to forget that any and all godliness comes from the Father. We become all puffed up and start projecting our standards on others. We soon begin to judge people and pressure them to conform to our “God lifestyle.” We forget about the principles that the Word of God reveal to us, and we teach our own preferences and practices of the law.

In Galatians 2, Paul brought up an example of when Peter went to Antioch. When Peter first arrived, he ate with the Gentile Christians who were not circumcised. But later on, when some of the friends of James came, Peter wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles any longer. He was afraid of the criticism that he would receive because the other people insisted on the necessity of circumcision. Paul later says, “Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.” Those uncircumcised believers were believers too, and they have receive the gracious gift of salvation and eternal life just like their fellow circumcised believers.

We have to learn to balance the reality that our faith is through grace alone and by faith alone. We are called to glorify God, and we are called to follow His Word. Grace teaches us to separate ourselves from cultural sin, but it never teaches us to use ourselves as the standard for grace. We must look to Christ as the standard, not ourselves! The important questions to ask yourself are, “Have I received the gift of salvation? Am I a child of God?” If you know that the answer is yes, then you know. We aren’t perfect. We are perfectly imperfect children of a perfect God, and it is through Him that we are made right. We can’t do this thing called life on our own accord, but with God we can. We were created to glorify God. If what you are doing is sharing the gospel and bringing honor and glory to our Father, then keep on doing that! That is His desire for each of us. I leave you with this a word from 2 Corinthians 12:9 that assures us, ““Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.” Alone, we are weak, but the power of the Father works best in our weakness. His grace is all we need!

2 Samuel 4:4 Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in both feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she hurried to leave, he fell and became disabled. His name was Mephibosheth.

2 Samuel 9:1-13 Then David asked, “Is there anyone left from the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for the sake of Jonathan?” And there was a servant of Saul’s family named Ziba. They summoned him to David, and the king inquired, “Are you Ziba?” “I am your servant,” he replied. So the king asked, “Is there anyone left of Saul’s family to whom I can show the kindness of God?” Ziba answered, “There is still Jonathan’s son, who is lame in both feet.” “Where is he?” replied the king. And Ziba said, “Indeed, he is in Lo-debar at the house of Machir son of Ammiel.” So King David had him brought from the house of Machir son of Ammiel in Lo-debar. And when Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he fell facedown in reverence. Then David said, “Mephibosheth!” “I am your servant,” he replied. “Do not be afraid,” said David, “for surely I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.” Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog like me?” Then the king summoned Saul’s servant Ziba and said to him, “I have given to your master’s grandson all that belonged to Saul and to all his house. You and your sons and servants are to work the ground for him and bring in the harvest, so that your master’s grandson may have food to eat. But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, is always to eat at my table.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. And Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do all that my lord the king has commanded.” So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table like one of the king’s own sons. And Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica, and all who dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants of Mephibosheth. So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table, and he was lame in both feet.

The story of King David and King Saul is all too familiar, but there is a behind the scenes story of redemption that I would like to discuss today. It is the story of the man named Mephibosheth. Remember the anger that old King Saul had toward David. He despised him, and he truly wanted him dead. David was best friends with the king’s son, Jonathan. David felt sure that the king wanted to kill him, and he shared this concern with Jonathan. Of course, Jonathan didn’t want to believe him. Saul was his father, and David was his best friend. How could this be true? In I Samuel, chapter 20, we read of a plan between David and Jonathan to discern whether or not Saul was really out to for David’s blood, and we also read of a promise that David made to Jonathan. The plan worked, and Jonathan realized that his father actually did want to kill David, and Jonathan warned David so that he was able to get away safely. A promise was made between the two best friends. David promised that he would never stop being kind to Jonathan for as long as he lived, and that he would never stop being kind to Jonathan’s family.

Fast forward about 15 years or so. King Saul and Jonathan were both dead, but David did not forget his promise. He began to inquire if any descendants of Jonathan were still living. He found out that Jonathan had a son named Mephibosheth. The boy was only 5 years old when his father and grandfather were killed in battle with the Philistines at Mt. Gilboa by the Jezreel Valley. When his nurse maid heard of the death of Saul and Jonathan, she picked up the boy, Mephibosheth, and ran to flee to safety, but she dropped him causing him to be lame. The fall injured both feet, and he was lame from that day forth. He was once the grandson of the king, but now he was a lame man without power or wealth whose family was hated. David tracked down Mephibosheth and made good on his promise to Jonathan. He showed kindness and grace to the son of Jonathan, grandson of Saul, and elevated him to a position equal to member of his very own family. From that day on, Mephibosheth dined at the table of the king. It’s a great story of redemption that we don’t give a lot of weight too, but we should.

Mephibosheth lived for many years unaware that grace was waiting for him. He was the only living direct descendant of King Saul, and therefore, he was despised. He had to look for death around every corner. He didn’t know that King David had entered into a covenant with his father, and because of that covenant, grace was extended to this man who has been lame since the age of five. Mephibosheth became part of the family of King David, and he was treated as though he was the son of the king and an heir to the throne so to speak. Think about that, and think about yourself for a moment. How many years did you live before you knew about the grace of God? Was it 10, 15, 20, or maybe you still haven’t fully accepted this grace. Until we accept the grace of God, spiritual death is lurking around every corner. Thankfully, a long time ago, our King made a covenant with His people, and because of this unconditional covenant, grace was extended to you and to me. Through Christ, we have become sons and daughters to the King. We have been adopted into the family of our Lord and Savior, and we are heirs to the throne. We can dine at the table of our King.

You may be feeling like you’ve been dropped, bruised, injured, and forgotten, but let me remind you that our God is still on the throne, and He is a promise keeper. He made a covenant, and He doesn’t break His promises. He sent His son as a propitiation for our sins so they we may be made right with Him, so that we may have an everlasting relationship with our Father, and so that we may be heirs to the throne of the King of kings, Lord of lords. You may feel like you were dropped somewhere in the past, but I assure you that you have not been forgotten. Trust in the Lord. Taste and see that He is good. He is my redeemer, and He will redeem you too! You don’t even have to have a great name like Mephibosheth. He knows your name. He knows you. He wants to adopt you into His family. You don’t have to be dropped and forgotten. With Christ, you can be delivered and forgiven!