Previous Sabbath Thoughts
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025Things God Cannot (Will Not) Do! Part 21 — January 24, 2026
It is impossible for God to forsake His people or forget them. This Sabbath we conclude this discussion with New Testament scriptures. Jesus told Peter He prayed that Peter’s faith would not fail (NKJV). “The Message Bible” paraphrases Luke 22:32 like this, “Simon, I’ve prayed for you in particular that you not give in or give out. When you have come through the time of testing, turn to your companions and give them a fresh start.” Once God selects someone for conversion, God will never let them go. John 10:28-30, “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.” Shortly before Jesus’ death and resurrection, He promised His disciples He would never leave or forsake them. John 14:18, “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” God allows us to experience tests and trials to strengthen our faith in Him and develop Godly character. But the end result is always to help us become the children of God born into His heavenly kingdom. 2 Timothy 4:18, “And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!” Paul encouraged the Hebrew brethren with two quotes from the Old Testament. Hebrews 13:5-6, “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’ ” Peter echoed what Paul said to Timothy. 1 Peter 1:5, “who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” To those who are true and faithful Christians, God promises to protect them from the Great Tribulation. Revelation 3:10, “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.” While it is not always directly stated, there are a multitude of New Testament scriptures that state God will help us, strengthen us and guide us to the end of this life so that we enter the Kingdom of God. Philippians 1:6, “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” God is involved in Christian lives to help them succeed. Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” When God selects us for the purpose of having us born into His spiritual family, nothing can defeat that purpose. Romans 8:31, 37-39, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? … Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Things God Cannot (Will Not) Do! Part 20 — January 17, 2026
This Sabbath we will continue our review of the scriptures that tell us it is impossible for God to abandon or forget His people. King David believed God would always take care of him. Psalm 27:10, “When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the Lord will take care of me.” Psalm 37:25, 28, “I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread. … For the Lord loves justice, And does not forsake His saints; They are preserved forever, But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.” In this current world, God’s people may suffer greatly, even ending in death. But, we have to remember, for God’s people there is a promise of eternal life after this physical life. Psalm 55:22, “Cast your burden on the Lord, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.” To be remembered in the eyes of God, we have a responsibility to put our trust in God. Psalm 94:14, “For the Lord will not cast off His people, Nor will He forsake His inheritance.” When His people are disobedient, God will allow them to be punished. But He will never completely forget and abandon them. Isaiah 14:1 (NLT), “But the LORD will have mercy on the descendants of Jacob. He will choose Israel as his special people once again. He will bring them back to settle once again in their own land. And people from many different nations will come and join them there and unite with the people of Israel.” Isaiah 41:10, 17, “Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. … The poor and needy seek water, but there is none, Their tongues fail for thirst. I, the Lord, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.” Isaiah 44:21, “Remember these, O Jacob, And Israel, for you are My servant; I have formed you, you are My servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me!” Isaiah 49:14-15, “But Zion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me, And my Lord has forgotten me.’ ‘Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you.’” God has made promises to Israel past and future to bring them back from captivity. Jeremiah 29:10-14, “For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.” Because of His great love for His people, God will never forget or abandon them. Jeremiah 31:3 (NLT), “Long ago the LORD said to Israel: ‘I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.’” Next Sabbath we will review the New Testament scriptures on this topic.
Things God Cannot (Will Not) Do! Part 19 — January 10, 2026
It is impossible for God to abandon or forget His people. God promised this to the Israelites as they left Egypt under the guidance of Moses. Moses reminded the Israelites of the promises God had made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Deuteronomy 4:31, “(for the Lord your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.” Moses reminded Joshua of this shortly before the Israelites crossed the Jordon into the land of Canaan. Deuteronomy 31:7-8, “Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, ‘Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.’” God confirmed this by speaking directly to Joshua. Joshua 1:5, 9, “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. … Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” God foretold that Israel would disobey Him and He would allow their enemies to take them into captivity. However, God said He would eventually bring them back to Him. Leviticus 26:44, “ Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, nor shall I abhor them, to utterly destroy them and break My covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God.” Even when Israel rejected God by asking for a king to rule over them, God said He would not abandon them. 1 Samuel 12:22, “For the Lord will not forsake His people, for His great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you His people.” God also spoke to Solomon while he was building the Temple for God with this promise. 1 Kings 6:11-13, “Then the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying: ‘Concerning this temple which you are building, if you walk in My statutes, execute My judgments, keep all My commandments, and walk in them, then I will perform My word with you, which I spoke to your father David. And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel.’” Next Sabbath we will recite scriptures from the Psalms and the Prophets that emphasize that it is impossible for God to forsake and forget His people.
Reasons Jesus Became Human, To Make Us Blameless — January 3, 2026
The Bible uses several different ways to express how Jesus became God in the flesh in order to die for the forgiveness of our sins. Even though we all sin, the shed blood of Jesus removes those sins in order that we may appear blameless before God our Father. 1 Corinthians 1:7b-8, “…eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 1:4, “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” The Bible uses other terms similar to blameless to express this concept: without offense and faultless. Philippians 1:10, “that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ.” Jude 1:24, “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” By believing in Jesus and living a good life it changes how we appear before God. Philippians 2:14-15, “Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.” The New Living Translation expresses this very clearly in Colossians 1:22, “Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.” Jesus wants to make us sinless when we appear before God our Father at His Second Coming. 1 Thessalonians 3:13, “so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This should be our goal in this life as we look forward to a new life in a new heaven and earth. 2 Peter 3:13-14, “Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless.”