By Rick Blumenberg / @RickBlumenberg
Sin— a dark and dirty dungeon with no windows and
only one door, built with the bricks and mortar of my own selfish
living.
Guilt— living in that underground dungeon and knowing I
built it as a place for me to live, a place where I always keep that one
door tightly closed so no one who passes can see what I'm really like on the
inside.
Satan— the con man who convinced me I wanted to live in such a
place. He made it sound so enticing and convinced me that sunlight was somehow
unnatural, unhealthy and totally undesirable. I believed his lies and lived in
the shadows, keeping the door tightly closed against the truth.
God's love— the sunlight that constantly shines on that door, even
though (because of the bricks and stones of my selfish living) the sunlight
cannot reach inside to reveal the spiritual poverty in which I live.
Confession— finally admitting (first to myself and then to God)
that I am living inside this dungeon with the door tightly closed as a result
of my own selfish choices.
Repentance— when I become aware of the awful sinfulness of wasting
that beautiful sunlight after Jesus, the Christ, the only begotten Son of God,
paid such a tremendously high price to make it available to me, and wishing
with all my heart I had never built that dungeon at all.
Faith— believing the sunlight is out there even though I can’t
see it. And believing it was created
for me by a loving God who wants me to live in the light and enjoy it, and
believing it so much that I have the courage to open the door and allow the
radiance of his Son to come in.
Forgiveness— when Jesus comes through that open door and I
experience the light and healing power of God's love that radiates from his
very being, surrounding me with his warmth and spilling over into dark corners
of my life, driving out darkness and fear I've been living with so long.
Salvation— watching in amazement as the marvelous light of God's
forgiveness burns away the impurities of guilt, fear, hurt, and loneliness that
have been such a painful part of my life for so very long.
Sanctification— allowing God's Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Father and
the Son, to knock out the walls that hide my life and block the sun, and
replace those ugly walls with beautiful transparent glass that changes my
dungeon into a solarium, full of light and life and beauty and warmth so I can
live joyfully in the precious “Son” light of God's amazing grace!
Compassion— feeling heart pain because so many wonderful people are
living in dungeons of their own guilt and despair, even though God loves them,
and wants them to open their doors and allow the “Son” light of his love and
forgiveness to pour in.
Evangelism— finding as many ways as possible to tell those people
who live now where I once lived, that the solarium where I now live is not of
my own making and I take no credit for it.
It’s a miraculous work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if they will only trust Him, He can also
transform their dungeons into houses of light and life and eternal beauty!
Christians— my brothers and sisters. Ex-dungeon dwellers all who
now live in the "Son" light. People called of God to take the Good
News of His marvelous love to other people who still perish without Him in dungeons
of their own despair. Never can we forget the dungeon from which we came, and
never can we cease to praise Jesus, who transformed our own personal dungeons
into the beauty of His Presence.
I'm Rick Blumenberg . . .
and that's My View from Tanner Creek.
