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[0:00] Much different message. I want to preach this morning about showing kindness. About showing kindness.

[0:10] It's a Christian virtue. It's something that the Apostle Paul tells us to be kind. And be kindly affectioned. And kindness makes...

[0:21] Paul makes those certain lists throughout his epistles about how we're to act with one another, about a spirit that ought to be about us. And kindness hits the list quite regularly. And so let's take a look at 2 Samuel chapter 9 and look right away at verse number 1.

[0:38] And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? Is there yet any?

[0:49] It's a question. Now, when we talk about showing kindness, I want you to understand right away that David is looking to do something for someone. He's not talking about displaying manners or being polite.

[1:01] That's not at all what we're talking about. That's definitely not what I'm going to be talking about. I'm not seeking to coax you to some superficial gestures that you could make throughout your life with strangers.

[1:12] And that's not kindness. Not at all what we're talking about. And before we even get into the message in the scripture, I also want to introduce by saying two things. One of them is you show kindness when you're in the position to do so.

[1:26] And David certainly is here. Look back at chapter 7, just at verse number 1 of chapter 7. And it came to pass when the king sat in his house, the Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies.

[1:38] Now, David had been on the run. David finally then reigned in Hebron and then brought together all the tribes of Israel to his leadership to Jerusalem, sitting on the throne.

[1:51] And things had totally settled down. Now, there's still battles to be fought. There's still enemies that will crop up. And what David actually ends up doing is just kind of looking around and saying, what are those Syrians doing here?

[2:03] What are those Ammonites doing close to our borders? What are those Philistines? And so he starts pushing and pushing and getting rid of them. And David conquers the entire region. And he's seated now in his kingdom at rest.

[2:16] He doesn't have King Saul trying to kill him like he was on the run every day, away from his wife, children, family. He's at peace. He's at rest. He's in the position to do something.

[2:26] So what I'm saying is, when I talk about showing kindness and put some thoughts out this morning, don't put yourself on a guilt trip if you're not in the position to do so. All right? So know that heading into this.

[2:36] And also, secondly, back in chapter 9, verse number 3, here's the phrase again, the question again. The king said, is there yet any of the house of Saul that I may show?

[2:48] Here he calls it the kindness of God unto him. The kindness of God. And so I want you to realize that we're talking about the kindness of God.

[2:59] Not just be nice, but show the kindness of God. David is in a good place, and it's because God has placed him in a good place. And come back to chapter 7 again, just for a quick glance at something.

[3:13] At chapter 7, God shows up through the prophet Nathan, and covenants with David. Something special. Very special.

[3:25] And I'll just highlight verse number 16. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee. Thy throne shall be established forever. And David responds to him talking about his mercy not departing from him in verse 15, and about how he's going to take care of his seed after him.

[3:44] They're going to sit on the throne, his throne, his family. David's starting this. In verse 18, then went to King David in and sat before the Lord and said, Who am I? Oh, Lord God.

[3:56] What is my house? It wasn't because of Jesse, his father. He can't trace this back to Abraham, a blessing. No, it's God picked him and put him on a throne, and his reaction coming before the Lord, I don't understand.

[4:13] Who am I? Why? Why did you pick me? Who am I among all these of Israel? And so secondly, I want you to know that David has experienced the kindness of God. David has seen God's hand deliver him from his enemies, pledged something to him, and then fulfill that through some very hard times, but nevertheless deliver him and bring him to where he said he'd bring him to, anointed as king over Israel, over his people.

[4:39] God's done some very outstanding things for David in his life. And here he has the throne, and he sits there and he says, I need to show kindness to somebody. I need to show the kindness of God to someone else.

[4:51] And so as we get into this message, consider also that the kindness of God is something that's displayed by the believer. It's something that's actually the outworking of Jesus Christ in you.

[5:05] It's the new man. Out, outworking, acting out who's inside. This is not you just deciding I'm going to be a good person today and do some kind of charitable act for somebody.

[5:17] It's not that kind of thought. It's Jesus Christ in you directing your actions toward others to fit the example of David seated upon his throne saying, is there yet any that I can show kindness to?

[5:30] And there was reasons for that, as we'll see. All right, so let's get into this. Chapter 9, verse 1 again. Here's the question. And David said, is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul?

[5:42] Is there yet any? I think David's sitting here reflecting on his life. You don't just come up with that thought unless you're seated, unless you're thinking back. Here he is on the throne.

[5:52] How did I get here? God got me here. Well, who sat here before me? Saul did. His son Jonathan, my close friend. Our hearts were so knit together.

[6:04] My love for him passed the love of women. We were brothers. We fought battles. We were both warriors. You remember what Jonathan did with his armor bearer when he climbed up that hill and took that garrison of the Philistines?

[6:19] He was a warrior himself. Jonathan was no sissy. David was a warrior, a man of war. These two had relationships. They were smart.

[6:30] They were gifted. They were connected in the kingdom. They were highly, one was a prince, one was the real prince. They were very connected, very tight.

[6:42] And he's thinking on this. He's thinking and realized, Jonathan, I need to do something. He comes up with this thought, is there yet any of the house of Saul that I may show kindness?

[6:56] Not for Saul's sake. Not at all. Not because he was king, but for Jonathan's sake. Because of my friendship with him. Because of some other reasons as well. Is there yet any? David, I believe this question was birthed out of his reflection.

[7:11] Is there yet any? My question now this morning to you, is there yet any? Is there yet any in your life that remain that you ought to show the kindness of God to? Is there yet any that have shown you kindness?

[7:23] I think this first thought here is realized by reflection. Just like David seated on the throne. This can't be just a random thought.

[7:34] He's reflecting. His motivation to do this was his relationship and his friendship with Jonathan. Jonathan humbled himself when he was due and expected to take the throne.

[7:48] His father Saul was so jealous for Jonathan to take that throne, he wanted to kill the one that everybody knew God had said would take that throne, David. He wanted him dead. He got outraged with Jonathan when he realized Jonathan had David's back.

[8:04] At the meal he stood up and screamed, thou son of a perverse, rebellious woman. You've chosen David, the son of Jesse. You've chosen to let him take your place.

[8:14] He was as a father jealous that his son take the throne. Yet Jonathan humbled himself and realized the working of God. Jonathan showed kindness by stepping out of the way and acknowledging David's right to the throne.

[8:29] He didn't allow that to interfere with their friendship, did he? Wouldn't you think that'd be kind of tough to be the king's son, the heir to the throne, and have this other guy that was anointed by the prophet to be the king in your place?

[8:43] Wouldn't you think that'd be kind of awkward? There'd be this tension between you? Jonathan must have been a humble man. Jonathan showed kindness to David further when he actually saved his life from his jealous father, plotting to have David killed.

[8:58] So my question, is there yet any that have shown kindness unto you this morning? If there is, you'll have to reflect and think on your life. Instead of think selfishly about your day and your plans for the future, reflect on your life and look back at things and people in your life that have helped to bring you to where you are today.

[9:17] You didn't get here by yourself. You're not alive and saved because you're a good person. It's the kindness of God that was probably displayed in the life of somebody else.

[9:27] Surely, there are some people that you know that deserve kindness. Your kindness in the past or even in the present. They've earned it. When I think on this, I'm not going to get into too many here, but I think of my parents and maybe many of you could say the same thing.

[9:45] Maybe you can't. But I can think of my parents and think about the influence they've had on me, spiritually speaking, to serve the Lord and to say yes to God whenever He calls.

[9:56] And if it wasn't for their influence, I'll say it till I'm dead. If it wasn't for their influence and seeing their example of doing it themselves, there's no way. My heart was chasing the wicked world.

[10:08] I was in it. But they stayed true to the Word of God. They didn't bend for me or for my sin or for their broken heart. They stayed true to Christ. And I knew it and I watched them and they meant it.

[10:21] They said the best thing in life, they learned this and they passed it on to me, the best thing in life to find the will of God for your life and do it. And that became real to me because it was their example.

[10:34] I'm indebted to them for just that. And that's not just that. I'm sorry. That's the biggest thing you could give to your kids is to teach them to follow and seek the will of God and to take the step of faith if He calls you.

[10:47] Surely there's some people that deserve your kindness. I think of the pastor, my pastor, for the last 20 years or so. I think of a time that I messed up in my life and I was out in the world and things fell apart and I won't go to any details except to say that somehow in a way he got a hold of me.

[11:08] He heard about it. He got a hold of me and he opened up the doors of his house to allow me to move in with him for about a month until I could get my feet and get a place of my own.

[11:20] And at the time I didn't make any promises I'll be in church. I didn't say, oh, I'm broken. I'm so wicked. I want to get right with God. And then he said, no, he just reached out and said, hey, if you need a place you can stay with me for a while.

[11:34] And he said, if you need help, I got a truck. I'll come and get you or get your things, help you move your stuff because we had to be out like now out of the apartment we were in and the mess that we were in.

[11:45] And he opened his doors to me and I remember feeling like this filthy, just ungodly, rebellious fool with the world all over him and in his heart and this pastor opening his doors where he had young and teenage daughters living at home and I just felt like I don't belong here.

[12:09] I should not be in this home. I felt so guilty. But that man showed some major kindness to me in a mess that I was in. He's also given me some wise counsel regarding marriage.

[12:26] He was, even when I came back from Bible school and got involved in a ministry, was patient with me. In the ministry and in thoughts and decisions and in words and actions.

[12:38] Surely, there's some people that deserve your kindness. That's one I owe. There's others I could go on about some brethren. I won't tell you the stories but I've got them where some of God's people have just shown kindness to me, to my wife, to my family.

[12:53] One couple just kind of, because my parents were on the mission field, they just kind of took place to say that we're going to act as if we're the grandparents and we're going to get them gifts. We're going to take our kids places.

[13:04] We'll go out to get ice cream or whatever the thing was, have you down to our house, swim in our pool. And they just reached out to our family and kind of brought us in and were very kind to us when we didn't really deserve it.

[13:16] We didn't know them on that level but that was a choice they made. There's others that have done kind things for us financially. Others in case of broken down vehicles at times where I was trying to, with help of a mechanic in the church, was trying to figure out what went wrong and why this thing is not doing what it's supposed to do and then this brother just said, hey, there's a tow truck coming.

[13:43] He's going to take it to my shop or to my repair guy and he's going to take care of it and you'll have it back in a few days. Don't worry about it. And he just showed kindness out of his heart. And I got lists of things where people in my life have sacrificed of their own for my sake.

[14:00] And if I just think about the selfishness of myself, just what I want and where I'm going and my problems, I'll never want to show someone else kindness.

[14:11] But it's realized by reflection, by stepping back from yourself and looking about some things. And I wonder how about you? Is there yet any in your life that have shown kindness unto you?

[14:24] Because surely you're not self-made. There's no way. How about this? Maybe you're older. Maybe your parents, maybe others in your life and past have passed on and maybe you just don't have those connections anymore.

[14:37] Well, what about this then? Is there yet any that are in need of your kindness? Look in chapter 9 again with me because this one is not realized by reflection. This one's realized by question.

[14:48] Notice in the first four verses, the first four statements coming from the king are all questions. And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?

[15:01] And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they went and 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 yet any of the house of Saul that I may show the kindness of God unto him?

[15:13] 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's in the house of Makar, Maker, the son of Amiel in Lodabar.

[15:25] This one's realized by question. Is there yet any that are in need of your kindness? First he says is, I've been shown kindness. I've had people help me along the way.

[15:35] I owe it to do something else. But now I've got to find out how and what and when and who. Is there any that are in need? And in verse three he finds out there's a cripple man that's in need.

[15:47] His name's Mephibosheth. He's the son of Jonathan and he's in the house of Makar. He's in Lodabar. Now a cripple man in that society was surely in need.

[16:02] He didn't have the government helping him and giving him equipment and making things accessible to him. He was a beggar or he had to find some family to take care of him. He didn't have much of an opportunity and not too many options.

[16:16] I wonder in your life and your circle is there yet any? Is there yet any that's at a point that they could use a Christian hand, a show of kindness, a display of the kindness of God that you've felt and experienced in your life?

[16:34] Is there yet any that are in need? In need because maybe like Mephibosheth they're powerless, they're incapable, maybe vulnerable, this man's lame on his feet.

[16:45] Look at the end of verse 13. The chapter closes by speaking of Mephibosheth saying was lame on both his feet. Can't walk, can't get around.

[16:55] What's he to do? Just lay around all day helpless, powerless, and in need. But if the kindness of God was shown to them, it would impact their life so much.

[17:08] would they be somebody in need because of a tragedy? Well, that's the case with Mephibosheth. Keep your place but come back to chapter 4 and learn why he's lame on both of his feet.

[17:26] It's because of a tragedy in his life that is no fault of his own. He didn't abuse drugs. He didn't beat his wife. What happened to him was not his fault.

[17:39] Yet here he is years down the road dealing with it. In chapter 4 and verse number 4 this is when Saul is, he's dead, Jonathan's dead and verse, I'll just give it verse 4.

[17:55] And Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son that was lame on his feet. He was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel and so that's the tidings is that they were killed in the same day at battle and then after that David assumes the throne.

[18:13] So Jonathan word of the defeat of not just the army of Israel but of the king, the death of their king and leader and of his son the prince. They're both killed.

[18:25] When that news comes it says his nurse took him up and fled and it came to pass as she made haste to flee that he fell and became lame and his name was Mephibosheth.

[18:36] They're fleeing because if we read earlier in this book or the end of the previous that in that battle the Philistines were coming into Israel and taking over the homes, taking over the towns and the Jews are fleeing for their lives and the nurse of Mephibosheth, Jonathan's son, grabbed him and ran and then the disaster, the tragedy.

[18:59] This is a man that's in need through no fault of his own because of a tragedy. Maybe there's somebody that you know is there yet any in need of your kindness that is powerless, that is through no fault of their own a tragedy or maybe because of the negligence of others in their life.

[19:16] We learn of Ziba in this chapter. He's called the servant of Saul in early on, where was that? verse 2.

[19:30] There was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. Well, Saul's dead and Jonathan's dead so what's Ziba to do? But David says he's still a servant to Saul.

[19:45] Where is that at? Verse number 9, he still refers to Ziba as Saul's servant in verse 9. The king called to Ziba, Saul's servant and said unto him, I have given unto thy master's son.

[19:58] He's still, Ziba's still under the household of Saul. He is still, Saul is still his master in his death. He doesn't just get released to go and be powerful and prosperous.

[20:10] He's a servant. And this man, he's in the passage, he's got 15 sons in verse 10, the bottom of the verse. He has 15 sons and 20 servants.

[20:21] He's obviously prosperous, but he's neglecting his duties over the household of Saul. He's still considered of the house of Saul. And so I don't believe Saul's death released him of his obligations to the household.

[20:36] And we see how he's doing pretty well, how he's prospering and he's enlarged. He could have easily cared for Mephibosheth. Later upon David's return, when David, his son Absalom, the rebellion, and he flees and then he comes back upon his return, this guy Ziba shows up and he slanders Mephibosheth, saying, oh, he said that the kingdom's going to be restored to the house of Saul.

[21:02] Well, who's that? You, Mephibosheth? The lame on both feet? Is he really making that proclamation? I'm going to be king now. No, Ziba's a liar. Ziba's slandering his master.

[21:15] He's displaying his true character later on. I think his character is displayed here just as much as his negligence. In his negligence, he should have been taking care of him. And you know what, Mephibosheth?

[21:27] He's in need. He's in desperate need because of the negligence of others, because of a tragedy of his past, because he's powerless and vulnerable.

[21:38] And so my question this morning, is there yet any that are in need of your kindness? That could be realized by question, like it was from the king, by seeking, by asking, do you need help?

[21:49] Can I help you? There might be brothers or sisters in your family or in your church that need help, and you won't know until you ask. They won't come in and boast it. They won't. If they do, then you probably should watch out.

[22:02] But if they don't, and they're humble, and they don't want God or you to know about it, they pray to God about it, ask, pray, let God lay somebody on your heart, and then seek and see if you can be a blessing and see if you could show kindness.

[22:17] Thirdly, is there yet any, is there yet any that your kindness can alter the course of their life? In verse number five, let's read this for a little piece here to verse 10.

[22:30] Then King David sent and fetched him out of the house of Maker, the son of Amal, from Lodabar. Now, when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was coming to David, he fell on his face and did reference and David said, Mephibosheth, and he answered, Behold thy servant.

[22:46] And David said unto him, Fear not, for I will surely show 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.

[22:57] 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 pertain to Saul and to all his house.

[23:11] 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 all the way up my table.

[23:23] Now, Ziba had 15 sons and 20 servants. Now, you can imagine this changed the course of his life. And this here, I'll say, is realized by action, by doing something.

[23:38] David reflected upon it, he questioned, and now he acted when he learned that somebody needed help. This one's realized by action. That is, is there yet any that your kindness can alter the course of their life?

[23:53] And it turns out there was. Consider the location that was changed. They say that he went from the projects to the palace. This man lived in Lodabar.

[24:03] Lodabar, if you ever see that L-O on the, that's prefixed to a word in Hebrew, it's, it negates what the following word is. It kind of means like not something.

[24:14] And if you read through Hosea, you'll see that at the beginning and you just look that up on yourself, it's very plain. But here, this means not Debar or Lodabar means a place of not or a place of nothing.

[24:27] And they've said, I've read a little bit of the thoughts here of some historians on it saying that this is a place of no pasture or of no significance, of no value. Not to say it wasn't a town at all, but it was just podunk.

[24:42] From podunk to the palace. Maybe that's a better way to say it. But he took, he took him from Lodabar to Jerusalem. Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the city of peace where the king David himself conquered that city and named it for himself and took the throne and established his kingdom there.

[25:02] It's the place where the Lord Jesus Christ is going to come back one day and reign as king over this world. And this man, Mephibosheth, from Lodabar laying low, gets lifted up to the elevated city on the hill, Jerusalem.

[25:19] The location changed. What a drastic change. The living situation certainly changed from the house of Maker to inherit all of Saul's property with servants on top to manage and to operate and to oversee his newly inherited property.

[25:40] I'm thinking living in the house of Maker, he probably lived in fear. Why, he was of the house of Saul. He wasn't the house of David anymore.

[25:53] That could quickly become something. I mean, there was some struggle. You'd have to read through to see how some tried to take the throne. Ishbosheth, I think his name was, tried to step up and take the throne and that fizzled out and there was some struggle there.

[26:05] If you're of the house of Saul, you might have wanted to just kind of back up and not really be seen. I'm just going to live down here. I'm not going to make any noise. Nobody knows me too much.

[26:16] Definitely not going to make a stir or it might be my head. But his relationship certainly changed. Maybe he was kind of living off the grid per se, but now he's supping with the king.

[26:27] Now he's being treated like royalty. You don't walk into the king's dining room and sit down at the table and say, what's for dinner? But Mephibosheth had this privilege of access to King David and to his table.

[26:42] You are going to eat bread all the way at my table. Now there's one more thing I think changed here drastically is this, I'll call it protection. He didn't know it then, but 20 years down the road there's going to be a famine.

[26:59] You can read it in 2 Samuel 21. And there's going to be a famine in the land and David's going to inquire the Lord what is going on and God says it's for Saul and for his house when he deceived the Gibeonites that I covenanted to back with Joshua and Saul went and did some things and he slaughtered them and he said, you're going to have to make that right.

[27:22] God sent a famine in the land of David, a man who was living for God, right in his sight with the Lord, all of that and God's punishing the land. What is going on? What turns out, David gets the Gibeonites and brings them by and he said, what do you want?

[27:35] They said, all right, well we don't want money, well we'll take seven heads of the sons of Saul and it says in that passage David spared Mephibosheth. You realize his head probably would have been cut right off had this interaction not taken place, had David not sat and thought and reflected and then questioned and then put some action to it and said, I'm going to take care of that man Mephibosheth.

[27:59] It brought protection to him that he never knew he needed. His kindness shown in this chapter was what protected this man from losing his head years later.

[28:11] You never know what a little kindness that I'm referring to, the kindness of God, what it'll do to somebody. How it'll affect them down the road. How it'll play out in their life.

[28:24] Well you could show a little kindness and do something to get them right with God and how it'll save their soul. It'll hide a multitude of sins, James says.

[28:34] This man, I'm sure he's eternally grateful especially at that moment for the kindness shown to him by King David. But it's more than that. It's more than just affecting his life and altering the course of his life.

[28:48] Look at verse 12. And Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Micah. Huh. So, not just Mephibosheth got in on this but now his son gets to realize the kindness of God shown from the king through his father.

[29:05] And now another generation gets to eat at the king's bidding, I shouldn't say table but rather he gets to eat from what the servants are working, the fruits and bringing them in so that his master's son would have food to eat.

[29:18] They're taken care of. This has altered more than one person's life hasn't it? And God could use you too. God can use you to reach a soul that he cares for and that he paid for and not just them alone but who knows how many.

[29:38] I want to close here with a story that I learned from listening to a message and then heard it again firsthand just back a few weeks ago at camp. A man that's a pastor in Aurora, Colorado is right outside of Denver, a suburb of Denver.

[29:53] His name's Adrian Dominguez. And Adrian is pastoring New Heights Baptist Church and he tells of a scene that it actually continues like now.

[30:04] It's still continuing to unfold for the glory of God. It began with a man that saw a dog loose on the street. And like you and I, just stupid people with their stupid dogs, don't pay attention to it, something inside him said do something or get that dog.

[30:23] And he just, he said, I don't know why but I felt obligated to do something. And I went and got the dog, found the collar, called the number and it was a lady. And a lady that was thankful for him showing kindness.

[30:38] But it turns out the lady, as he talked to her, she was pretty broken. And there's no big story here. She got saved. Not yet. He just invited her to church.

[30:50] And as the story goes, six months went by and nothing until she popped into church with I think two sons. And she's, oh pastor, that message was for me, thank you so much and then gone.

[31:05] For a couple months, there was a little ray of light and then gone. That's the way it goes. But what they didn't see was God's at work through this thing. She shows up again and she shows up with all of her family.

[31:17] And long story short, months pass, little by little, they start trusting Christ one by one and getting saved.

[31:29] And it's not just the lady, it's not just the sons, but it's family members and their friends. And the thing starts just unfolding. And as it unfolded, he told the story, as he told it, when I was in Florida at Pensacola, he told the story initially, a shortened version of it.

[31:45] There was some people, some young men that were there that were there to attend Pensacola Bible Institute. They were not just saved, they felt called of God and off they went to Bible school.

[31:58] And then the kids are at camp in Idaho and he tells the long version of the story and shows with pictures on the screen of this individual when they trusted Christ.

[32:09] And then this person brought their friend and it shows a picture of them smiling, they trusted Christ. It just goes and goes and goes. And what was neat at camp was some of the people and the teenagers were sitting right there on the front row with his church group.

[32:25] And some of these young souls who have newly been saved and were not rebellious punks, worldly kids at camp with a bad attitude, they were in an environment they've never been in before and they loved it.

[32:39] They were smiling from ear to ear and rejoicing. And Samuel told me the other day, he said that he saw on something that another kid got saved in that church and I think it's all related to this group.

[32:53] And it all goes back to a man and a dog that was loose and something in him said, do something about it. Now that stuff doesn't happen I guess every day.

[33:06] Maybe not every week. Maybe you'll never see that happen in your life. But talk about altering the course of some lives. Talk about altering the destiny of some eternal souls because of a display of kindness.

[33:22] In conclusion this morning church, I don't want you to take on the problems of Los Angeles. I don't want you to get involved in social issues and homelessness and hunger.

[33:33] That's not what you're called for. But as God has used people in your life, God has shown the kindness of God to you through other people believers possibly.

[33:44] And it's undeserved. Maybe it's financially. Maybe it's spiritually. Maybe it doesn't fit into any category that we could put our finger on at all. Perhaps your eyes should be open to the opportunities that you have before you to show the kindness of God to another.

[34:03] I said at the beginning the kindness that we're talking about is something that's to be displayed by the believer. It's the outworking of Christ that resides inside of you. It's not just charitable acts and feeling bad for somebody but it's Christ in you motivating you and directing your actions towards others.

[34:24] I'm not asking you to be thankful in your heart. I'm saying you need to show it. Show kindness. The Christian virtue. The kindness of God. As you have opportunity and as you have the ability let's pray.

[34:38] Our Father I thank you this morning for this example in the Bible and I thank you Lord that we can apply it to our lives today and so Lord I pray that your spirit would work a work in our hearts would change us from being selfish and being motivated for greed and for gain and for covetousness and turn our eyes to those in need around us that need to see not just need help but they need to see Christ.

[35:06] They need to see somebody that cares about others the way Jesus Christ cared about us. God break our hearts open our eyes help us to be open to your spirit and to your leading.

[35:23] I pray that you'd receive some glory from this thought this morning. I pray Lord that you'd get a little more of us and maybe some soul could be saved. Maybe some life could be changed their life could be altered from where they are to where you want them.

[35:38] Lord I pray that you'll receive the glory with your heads bowed and your eyes closed still for a moment. It started with reflection. Will you reflect?

[35:53] Will you stop thinking about yourself? Will you stop thinking about your problems? and will you stop watching the television and being addicted to your phone to actually sit and reflect and allow God to open your heart and to speak to you in this way?

[36:09] If it could be one it could be all of us. It was followed by question. The king had to seek out. He didn't know.

[36:20] He didn't know what he should do how he could do it. He had to ask some questions and then he had to follow through with some action. It's a pretty simple thought this morning but it's probably something that's just not coming out of us as much as it ought to.

[36:35] The kindness of God. My what God has done for us. My what he saved us from. My how through this life he's kept us from our own selves and stupid decisions and error.

[36:50] If God would lay somebody on your heart or move in some way according to these thoughts I invite you to come and just commit it to him on the altar this morning.

[37:02] If the Lord's dealing with your heart about anything feel free to come and pray. What's that number? What is it? Let's sing together.

[37:14]  We could stand.