Loss & Redemption

Mephibosheth was a man of honor now discarded and destroyed. He had little left in life. His grandfather, a former king (Saul), and his father had both died in battle when he was a child. He had both of his feet crushed when his nurse, while carrying him, fell and crushed them beneath her body.

He was hiding out in the country for fear of retribution towards him for how badly his grandfather had treated the man who became king in his place. He had gone from heir to a kingdom and the inheritor of vast tracts of land, to a destitute, lost, deformed young man with no hope of a real future.

Yet hope still prevailed! The present king, whom his grandfather had treated so badly, was a God fearing man who remembered not the cruelty of his grandfather, but the honor and love of his father (Jonathan). This new king (David) searched out Mephibosheth, the young man so discarded and destroyed, and gave him honor once again. Instead of killing him and destroying all that he had, as was traditionally done and to some extent expected, the king returned to Mephibosheth the lands his grandfather had once owned. He was also given the servants needed to care for that land as well as himself, and all that he personally had need of was provided for directly from the table of the king.

It is a beautiful story of hope, love, kindness, and redemption (II Samuel 9). If only it had ended there. Unfortunately, the story goes on. The new king ends up having some trouble of his own when his own son attempts to usurp him from the throne. David flees the city of David and is on the run from his own son, Absolom who is trying to make himself king in his fathers place. So how does Mephibosheth respond? He abandons David, the man who had shown him so much kindness and mercy. Why? Because what he has isn't good enough. He thinks that by abandoning David and joining with Absolom somehow he will regain the kingdom of his grandfather Saul (II Samuel 16). In the end though, the coup fails, David returns, and all that Mephibosheth has gained is instead given to his head servant, Ziba, who had proven himself faithful.

It is a sad story which too often parallels our own lives. We were lost, the children of sin. Yet the true king comes and redeems us of our own wrongdoings, and gives us a new life. It's a life that we had been meant to have. Some of us embrace that life; that new hope and love in faithfulness. Others of us return to the anger, hatred, and selfishness of the past. We see it as "our right" to try to take back what was "ours". As if it had not been lost in the first place because of just that kind of selfish attitude. We need to let go of the past and our own selfish ambitions and embrace the God that gave us our redemption. He is the God of mercy that will forgive. He is the only God that can bring us new life. The only God of faith, hope, and true love.

Image from pawpaw67 used under cc license.

What God in the Spiritual Armor Means for Us

The other day i was thinking about how the presence of the trinity in the Spiritual Armor and the Spiritual Gifts parallel one another, and how there are so many connections that exist that we never see or understand.

As i was thinking about how the Holy Spirit is/= the Spirit of truth. He is the girdle of truth that protects the softest parts of our bodies. As a part of the spiritual armor he covers our stomach, intestinal area, and lower sexual organs. He covers the areas that are our appetites. Our two most natural and common appetites are nourishment and sexuality. Seen in obesity, drunkenness, and sexual problems. They are the weakest parts of our physical bodies, and also the most easily corrupted, hurt, and damaged parts of our lives.

The breastplate of righteousness is/= the righteousness of Christ. As armor, the breastplate covers our heart and lungs. It covers the areas of our body that control everything else. The lungs process the oxygen that we take in. They feed the blood (our life essence) that feeds the rest of the body. The heart pumps that blood throughout our body and is considered by many cultures to the the center of who we are. The righteousness of Christ covers this. It covers and protects who we are as a person. It covers how our daily lives come together and who we are in relationship with the father. It covers our actions and everyday lives. It is our lifeblood.

The helmet of salvation is/= our salvation. Salvation belongs to our God. It is the rebuilding of that relationship between us and God that was lost with the fall of man. As such, it is that salvation that covers our minds. It covers our thoughts and views. More than that, it covers what we believe, accept, and reject. When we are taught. When we learn & understand something, it all comes into and is filtered through our minds.

The enemy attempts to attack us at each of these different areas of our lives. He attacks our appetites. He attacks our actions and who we are as people. And, he attacks our thoughts and beliefs that give us a vision and a purpose. On the flip side it also means that when we struggle and continually have problems in any one of these areas of our lives, it means that that is the part of God, of the trinity that we do not have a grasp of or that we have let go of. We need to get a hold onto that again.

When we struggle with our appetites we need to seek out and better understand who and what the Spirit of truth is. We need to seek the Spirit of truth in our lives. When we struggle with our actions and who we are as people, we need to seek to reach and better understand our role with Christ. We need to seek Him and His vision for us. When we lose a grasp of what we believe, and when our faith, hope, and love are failing, that is when we are losing a grasp of who our Father is. That is when we need to seek Him the most. Thus understanding the spiritual armor becomes a role in who we are.

Image from North Grace Youth Camp used under cc license.

What is Faithfulness?

So what is so special about faithfulness? I have been really mulling this over in my mind for the last few days or so. I have come to realize that faithfulness is something existent in all people. Everyone is faithful to something or someone. Even those of us that we would call unfaithful are faithful to something; whether it be our emotional desires at the time, our selfish wants, or what our best friend wants, we are faithful to something. The question then becomes, what or who are we faithful to? Are we faithful to ourselves? Are we faithful to our feelings? Are we faithful to our friends? Are we faithful to God? Who or what are we faithful to?

I think in working with the young adults and the lesson for this week i will be focusing on helping them to 1) identify examples of faithfulness & unfaithfulness, 2) understand what fruit and faithfulness really are, 4) understand where fruit comes from and how it comes to be and 3) apply it. What ways are we faithful? How do we become faithful to the right things? What are three things that i can do today to be more faithful to the right things?

Image from Tracey Holland used under cc license.