Tag Archives: Mephibosheth

October 10, 2023 · 5:43 AM

Motivated By Love

Think of some things you’ve done and accomplished. What was the motivation behind them? What drove you to accomplish them? I’ve been motivated by money in order to get something done. I’ve been motivated to be the best so much that it pushed me to my limits. I’ve been motivated by wanting to prove people wrong. I’ve also been motivated by my pride so that I was seen and praised. However, to be motivated by love is completely different. That causes us to go above and beyond. When asked what the greatest commandment is, Jesus told them that it was to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Then He said that the second one was to love others as we love ourselves. Love for God and others should motivate our actions.

In 2 Samuel 9 King David asked if there was anyone left alive in the House of Saul whom he could show kindness to because of his love for Jonathan. They told him that one of Jonathan’s sons had survived, but he had become crippled while being carried from his home once word came out that the king and Jonathan had been killed. This son, Mephibosheth, had been living in fear since he was young that the new king would find him and kill him to end the line of Saul. When he was summoned to the king, I’m sure he was terrified as he arrived. However, love casts out fear, and what he discovered was a man motivated by love and not fear of losing his kingdom. He was invited to stay there and sit at the kings table all the days of his life. This act of love from David pulled Mephibosheth from a life of hiding and obscurity into the life he was born into. He lived a life of abundance from then on and David was blessed because of his act of love.

1 Corinthians 16:14 says, “Let everything you do be done in love [motivated and inspired by God’s love for us]” (AMP). We love because God loved us first. We are to be motivated by that love in everything we do. Going back to my initial question, what’s the motivation behind what you’re planning to do? If it’s anything other than love, it’s time to reconsider how being motivated by love would change your actions. It’s not easy to do everything with a love that unselfishly seeks the betterment of others. We have to fight our selfish nature that wants to do things that are motivated by making you feel better, that benefit you and or bring attention to you. That is the opposite of what the Bible is asking us to do. Our motivating factors should be a love that honors God and benefits Him or honors and benefits others. It’s not easy, but it’s right.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

June 28, 2023 · 5:39 AM

The King’s Table

In 2012, I had just started writing. In order to learn more, I signed up for a writer’s conference in San Diego. When I checked in at registration, the lady opened my packet and said, “Here’s your invitation to breakfast with author of “The Shack” William Paul Young. Here is your ticket to meet with the most connected man in America, Peter Strople. And here is your invitation to breakfast with church statistician George Barna.” Confused, I told her I didn’t pay for those. She replied,Lowell, they’re in here. Enjoy the blessing.” I honestly felt unworthy of it and tried to reject the offers. There were better writers there, people with thousands more readers and those who would have given anything to sit down with these people. In the end, I accepted the blessing and those meeting changed my life because I sat down at the table with them.

In 2 Samuel 9, King David remembered his promise to Jonathan to take care of his descendants. When he found out Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth was still alive, he sent for him. Mephibosheth was scared because normally kings killed the descendants of other kings, but David assured him he was safe. He had been living in the land of Lo Debar which means “the land of nothing”. Now, David was inviting him to eat at the king’s table. Mephibosheth refused and referred to himself as a dead dog, but David insisted. He then blessed Mephibosheth by giving him all of King Saul’s property and servants to work the fields. Verse 13 says, “So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he always ate at the king’s table. And he was lame in both feet” (AMP). Instead of disqualifying himself, he accepted the blessing of eating at the king’s table.

Psalm 23:5 says, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You have anointed and refreshed my head with oil; My cup overflows.” God has prepared a table full of blessings for you. Have you been disqualifying yourself and missing out on the blessing? We can easily see why others deserve a seat, but we find reasons why we’re not worthy or able to sit at the king’s table. God is bidding you to come and dine. Don’t dismiss the blessings He’s trying to give you. There’s a seat for you that He has prepared. He wants to anoint you, refresh you and cause your cup to overflow. Quit finding reasons to not sit down. It will change your life. Accept the blessings God has for you by telling Him that you want to sit and dine with Him always. He will take you from the land of nothing into a land of abundance when you quit disqualifying yourself and sit at His table.

Photo by Robert Linder on Unsplash

2 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

June 22, 2022 · 6:02 AM

A Seat At The Table

I’m a pretty self confident person normally. I can be in most situations and feel like I can hold my own. However, when I went to my first executive meeting at a major corporation, I got my confidence wrecked. The guy presenting before me couldn’t defend his projections for the next quarter. The higher ups questioned him and exposed him like nothing I had ever seen. He ended up getting tears in his eyes and shut down in front of everyone. They turned to me and said, “Next!” I don’t remember what I said or how I got through it, but that meeting left a mark. Every time after that, when I walked into a board room with a giant table full of suits sitting at it, I felt like I didn’t belong there. I became quiet and meek. When they asked what I thought about something, inside I wondered why they cared what little, old me cared about.

In 2 Samuel 9, King David asked if any of Jonathan’s relatives were still alive so that he could show kindness to them and to fulfill his promise to his best friend. They told him about Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth who became paralyzed when he was dropped as a child as they were on the run. David asked for him to be brought in. In those days, when a new king took over, they killed everyone who could possibly have a claim to the throne. Mephibosheth would have been second in line and was terrified to meet with David. When he arrived, David gave him all of Saul’s land and invited him to dine at the king’s table. In verse 8 Mephibosheth replied, “Who is your servant, that you should show such kindness to a dead dog like me?” (NLT) He didn’t feel like he belonged at that table, but he began to eat there anyway.

After Peter had denied Jesus three times, Jesus appeared to him and the other disciples on the Galilean seashore in John 12. He called out to them and when they arrived at shore, He invited them to come and dine. I’m sure Peter didn’t feel like he belonged at the Lord’s Table, but Jesus gently gave him the charge to feed His sheep. Just like Peter and Mephibosheth, we can feel unworthy to sit at the King’s table because of things we’ve done. We can try to minimize our status as King’s kids, but there is a place for you there. Jesus is reminding us like He did Peter that it’s His righteousness that we wear, not our own. No matter what you’ve done, once it’s covered by His blood, it’s gone and there’s a seat waiting for you. Don’t shy away from God’s Table. Don’t feel you’re not enough to be there. You have been raised to new life and have been given a new nature and are clothed with a robe of Christ’s righteousness now. Don’t hold back. Come and dine. You have a seat at the table.

Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

May 10, 2021 · 5:53 AM

Come To The Table

My son is an extrovert much like I am. Every day when I pick him up from school, he either wants to go to someone’s house or he wants someone to come to ours. Most days, i have to tell him, “No.” Then on the way home we have to have another conversation. “Why can’t we just go to their house and have dinner tonight,” he asks. “Because you can’t invite yourself to someone else’s house,” I’ll tell him. Back and forth we go. I have to explain they’re not expecting us. They haven’t prepared enough food. They may be eating out. They may have other friends coming over. They may just want to be alone, which is a foreign concept to him. Although we have this conversation several times a week, he doesn’t stop wanting to show up at friend’s houses uninvited.

In 2 Samuel 9, David remembered his promise to Jonathan to always show kindness to the house of Saul. He asked if there was anyone left alive and they told him Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth was still alive, but he was crippled. David immediately sent an invitation to him to come over. When he arrived, Mephibosheth was nervous and scared wondering if he was going to be killed. In verse 7 David said, “Don’t be afraid, I will be kind to you for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will give you back all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always be welcome at my table” (GNT). The chapter ends saying that Mephibosheth ate all his meals at the king’s table just like one of the king’s sons.

Mephibosheth is a representation of you and I. We’ve been crippled by our sins, yet God invites us to sit at His table. So many times we feel unworthy to sit there, but we have been invited to sit there every day to dine with Him. While on our own, we would never be worthy to sit there, Jesus became our righteousness and made us sons of God. Romans 8:16 gives us this powerful promise, “God’s Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we are God’s children.” That makes us the King’s sons and daughters and creates an open invitation to join Him daily. Even when you don’t feel like you deserve it, come to the table. You are a child of God and belong at His table where your mental, physical and spiritual needs are met daily.

Photo by pepe nero on Unsplash

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , ,