Restored to Life - Bernard Faulhammer Bernard Faulhammer

Mephibosheth was King Saul's grandson. He was crippled in both feet living in Lo Debar (no pasture). As was common practice at the time, he was fully expecting to be exiled or put to death by King David's  bodyguards. Instead David does the opposite. He invites him to his table to show kindness to him and his family  on behalf of Jonathan, and thus restores his fortunes and his dignity. We too are like Mephibosheth. We may feel inwardly crippled, stuck in a place of barrenness, but King Jesus is inviting us to the table of grace to restore us and bless us with his "Hesed" - OT grace or loving kindness. With the kindness and love we receive in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we are able to reach out and minister to people who are broken and lost like Mephibosheth while he was in Lo Debar

In part three of this series we are reminded that the Holy Spirit is, apart from angels and from appearances of our Lord, God's only agent on earth. Without him we have no part of Christ. We only know the Father and the Son intimately through the Holy Spirit. Without him we can do nothing of spiritual value. He is powerful in our weakness which is the paradox of walking with Jesus. He gives us power to be witnesses for Jesus. When he fills us with joy that sharing of his love becomes natural in our interactions with others. 

The strategy of the enemy is to keep us in a state of fear so that we remain stuck. His weapons are accusation, confusion, lies, false teaching and temptation. But God has a strategy for us to live in his grace and weapons for us to overcome ALL the power of the enemy. While the belt of truth is the complete truth of life and reality according to the gospel of Jesus Christ, the sword of the Spirit is different. These are prophetic promises rooted God's eternal word which he gives us in the heat of battle to cut through the lies of the enemy and become more than a conqueror!

"Don't just do something, stand there." When the glory of the Lord departs, it's easy in a "can do" busy culture to keep things going in our own strength, when the Lord really wants us to seek him. For us as God's house to be renewed and refreshed we need a visitation of his glory. The Holy Spirit is the divine defibrillator. A defibrillator can restore the heart's beating if the heart suddenly stops. God comes to fill us with his Spirit when we seek him and rely on him rather than simply on our own projects and plans.