"STAIN REMOVER"

During WWII, British intelligence spread the rumor that the Royal Air Force pilots enjoyed superior night vision because they ate copious amounts of carrots. However, it was a total lie. The truth was the RAF was using their newly invented radar to spot German planes in the dark. It was a massive military secret, and in order to keep German intelligence “in the dark” they made up the carrot diversion.

Just to be clear, vitamin A in carrots is good for eye health but probably won’t help you detect enemy airplanes in the dark.

Taffy’s grandfather was a pilot in the RAF during WWII before moving to Carswell Field in Ft. Worth, Texas to be an instructor. Taffy, now approaching middle age considered her grandfather a modern day philosopher ranking right up there with Socrates or Saint Thomas Aquinas. He had insights and wisdom which was truly mesmerizing.

He told Taffy a story;

“A father said to his son; “Here is a watch that your grandfather gave me. It is almost 200 years old. Before I give it to you, go to the jewelry store downtown. Tell them that I want to sell it, and see how much they offer you.”

The son went to the jewelry store, came back to his father, and said; “They offered $150.00 because it’s so old.” The father said; “Go to the pawn shop.”

The son went to the pawn shop, came back to his father, and said; “The pawn shop offered $10.00 because it looks so worn. The father asked his son to go to a museum curator and show them the watch.

He went to the museum, came back, and said to his father; “The curator offered $100,000.00 for this very rare piece to be included in their precious antique collections.”

The father said; “I wanted to let you know that the right place values you in the right way. Don’t find yourself in the wrong place and get angry if you are not valued. Those that know your value are those who appreciate you, don’t stay in a place where nobody sees your value.” “Know your worth.”

Taffy was thinking about her grandfather’s stories when carrying a basket of dirty laundry to the washing machine she noticed a red drink spill on the kitchen floor. Her and her husband had friends over the night before to play cards and someone must have spilled their Boone’s Farm wine. Taffy picked up a towel out of the dirty laundry basket and wiped up the wet mess. She threw the whole pile right into the washing machine. Taffy washed all the towels with detergent and hot water, but the towel came out of the dryer, stained. Thinking at least it was an older towel, she folded it and put it away with the other towels.

Later in the week after a shower one evening Taffy grabbed a towel off the linen rack to dry herself and noticed that red stain which didn’t come fully out. Taffy got a quick uneasy feeling about using that red stained towel. She thought it still looked unclean because of the red stain and maybe that was the cause of her uneasy feeling. Taffy thought back, the towel had gone through the same process to get clean as all the other towels, but that red wine stain looked brand new. She was dripping wet so she dismissed it with the thought of it might lighten up in time but the towel was clean. She began drying herself with the stained towel and it made her think of the preacher’s last sermon. The sermon was about how we feel about forgiveness. Immediately, Taffy felt peace instead on uneasiness and her heart was warm with forgiveness.

When we sin, we ask for forgiveness, and God forgives us. But sometimes we still feel the stain of our sin that is left behind and we feel as though we are still dirty and not completely forgiven. God has forgiven us but maybe we haven’t forgiven ourselves and we still feel guilty. So, we have to remind ourselves that what God has made clean is spotless. Then we need to accept the fact that we are spotless clean and truly forgiven.

Jesus is our cleaning process, and we are the towel. As the towel we are not responsible for the cleaning process so we can’t take the credit for getting ourselves clean. But if we deny that we are clean, then aren’t we denying Jesus forgives and the sin remains because of our lack of faith. Regrettably, there are many Christians who rob themselves of the joy of God's immense grace and forgiveness by hanging onto the guilt from previous sins.

Instead of experiencing the jubilant delight of God forgiving our sins and that includes all sins, some of us just cannot seem to accept God "doesn't remember" our sins after confessing them. Again, God wants to forgive us and for us to be happy about his forgiveness. (Psalms 51:8)

God does not wanting us to feel as worthless as gum on a boot heel. Yes, some people are addicted to feeling bad. They feel "their sin" was so bad it cannot be true God would forgive them. Others feel "their sin" must be punished in some form before they can give up the guilt.

News flash; Unlike our mothers and fathers when we were growing up, the Heavenly Father doesn't use corporal punishment. Instead of God wearing out our rear ends with a belt, He uses compassion, mercy and grace to give us clemency for our sins. Whether the sin is adultery, abortion, prostitution, cold blooded murder or any of thousands of other sins, God forgives them all if you trust Jesus and confess your sins to Him.

Salt down this fact about God's forgiveness making these Bible sinners to be Bible saints: Abraham confessed he tried to pimp his wife to sleep with the Pharaoh. (Genesis 20:1-17)

David used a murder by proxy scheme to kill Bathsheba’s husband so she could be his seventh wife and mother of their adulterous child. (2 Samuel 11:2-17)

Moses murders an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew. He buries him in the sand and hits the brush running from the law. (Exodus 2:11-22)

Rahab was a prostitute and a pimp masquerading as an innkeeper in Jericho. (Joshua 6:17-27)

Samson was a grudge judge and enjoyed a lifestyle marked by violence while killing people to impress a girlfriend. (Judges 14:1-20)

Jacob confessed that he and his mother used the ‘ol Beersheba bamboozle to cheat his brother Esau out of his inheritance. (Genesis 27:1-45)

God made saints out of sinners who committed murder, lived a life of sex for money and a litany of other sinful behaviors. He not only forgave them of their sins but used them for His will. God wants you to be joyous about His washing away your sins regardless of what sins they were. (1 John 1:9)

Remember, God wanted to forgive us so bad, He sent His Son Jesus to die so we could be forgiven. We do not have to worry about God grading on a curve as Jesus made it a simple pass or fail. So, it is a no-brainer to choose Jesus as the only “stain remover” we need. Jesus cleanses us from all sin and removes all of our sin stains, (1 John 1:7) so we do not need to go digging where God has buried our sins. Once we confess our sins, God doesn't remember them anymore so why would we want to?

Merciful and Forgiving Father, thank You for your abundant love, mercy, grace and forgiveness. Thank You for making it so easy to ask You for forgiveness and reassure our thick skulls we do not have to ask but one single time. In fact Lord, tattoo it on our brain we don't need to confess our sins a thousand times but we need to confess them once and thank You a thousand times for removing our sins as far as the east is from the west. Let us sing, dance and rejoice because “It Feels Good to be Forgiven!”