“The only thing that God cannot do is act contrary to His own character and nature”? For example, Titus 1:2 states that He cannot lie. Because He is holy (Isaiah 6:3; 1 Peter 1:16), He cannot sin. Because He is just, He cannot merely overlook sin. Because Christ paid the penalty for sin, He is now able to forgive those who will turn to Christ (Isaiah 53:1-12; Romans 3:26).
Recently I attended a basketball college reunion. It was not a football reunion. Hum you are probably saying, what is Sugar Bear doing at a hoop’s reunion? It was enjoyable as well as a refreshing view, with life-long bonds from guys who were from another sport but knew me from the past.
It was a revisited youthful perception of my athletic past that had been repaired. You see some of those perceived essential elements about me was from a time capsule during the early 70's where the theme of the Big Eight football conference, “mean and lean” was the quote I personally lived thru. Mostly mean, anger, a quiet tough person, wanting to fight all the time were some of the quotes I heard in the present day. Those reflections led to this commentary,“God does things for us that we can’t do for ourselves”. That’s the sense behind Jesus’s saying that “Without me you can do nothing”.
Do not be like the unforgiving servant in Jesus’ parable in Matthew 18:21-35(as I listen to my critical spirits).A servant owed a huge debt to his master; it was an amount he could never pay back. The master completely wiped out the debt. The servant, however, went to another servant who owed him a small amount of money and demanded that he pay up—and when the debtor could not pay, he threw him in prison! The master heard about it and became angry. The master reinstated the unforgiving servant’s original debt and threw him in jail. We should always try to remember, when people are mean to us, that we owed God a huge debt. He forgave us, and we can forgive others.
Romans 1:28-30 contains a long list of unrighteous behavior, which includes malice, gossip, slander, insolence, heartlessness and ruthlessness. These are all different facets of meanness, and it’s inevitable that we encounter people driven by such behavior in this world. People are mean for a variety of reasons, many of which have nothing to do with the person who takes their abuse. Often, mean behavior is a reaction to a person’s inner conflicts rather than a rational response to the people around him. However, being the subject of mean behavior is hurtful and demoralizing. What is the biblical response? What does the Bible say about how we should react to mean people? Or our own meanness? Our sinful mind can create mixed feelings and emotions for people; it can bring back fond memories and old insecurities; especially if, “All of the “stuff” that we have from our young years is just that – stuff.
One of my Mother’s sisters who lived for nearly 90 years. Had a saying, "If I had known I would live this long, I would have fixed the dishwasher." It had quit doing something or other several years prior, and there it sat restfully biding time. She thought it unwise to repair her dishwasher in her mid 80's. So why waste the money, “You are too valuable a child of God to sit around idly like the broken dishwasher. Go fix “it”!
Have you stopped repairing things in your life? What have you become "too old to do?" What have you quit doing? Develop the mindset that you will always repair the dishwasher.
As Christian we need to believe that each of us was put here with a purpose even in Retirement; it may be time to investigate and let mercy bound, serve as a bible school teacher, a supporter for solutions, hospice, Stephen minister volunteer or even mentor our youth.
The Bible says that when God forgives us, He “remembers our sins no more" (Jeremiah 31:34) This does not mean that the all-knowing God forgets because He forgives us. Rather, He chooses not to bring up our sin to Himself or others. When our former sins come to mind, we can choose to dwell upon them (with the resulting guilty feelings), or we can choose to fill our minds with thoughts of the awesome God who forgave us and thank and praise Him for it. Philippians 4:8
As we travel this developing faith journey, along the way, we change with the help of the holy spirit, continually asking God what needs to be done. Knowing we have a great Savior who forgave us, undeserving though we will always be, and draw us closer in loving obedience to Him (Romans 5:10; Psalm 103:2-3)
Dishwasher conversion begins in the heart and radiated outward to affect everything we think, say, or do (James 2:26); switches direction, changes allegiance and moves from self-worship to God-worship. As the heart is transformed, the actions follow until the entire life has been transferred from sin-filled to God-honoring (Romans 6:6-7). as a “mean and lean” athlete for Christ!
Prayer. O God our loving Father, we need you every hour of our lives, and especially now as we weigh our challenges. We place our hopeful hand in yours, and wait for your direction. Infuse our every day with hope and joy through what we do. Amen
God Bless You and This Ministry!
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