Walking in the "Son" Light

By Rick Blumenberg  @rickblumenberg

In addition to my blog, books, articles and Sunday School lessons I’ve written through the years, I’ve also written several dozen songs. Since I don’t read or write music, I have to depend on someone else to write the music for me and that’s not easy to do because everyone I know is as busy as I am. The result is that my music is only found in my head and only heard when I sing it as I drive down the highway or find myself doing something else that calls for a song to pass the time.

So I decided to share the lyrics of some of my songs on my blog from time to time. This one is called Walking In the “Son” light (of the Love of Jesus)  Since you can’t hear the music in my head, just pretend it’s a poem.

Verse 1

Sometimes days are dark and the clouds obscure the sun.

Troubles seem to pile up in my way.

But I won't be discouraged ‘cause I'm walking with the Son

And Jesus' love shines on me every day.

Jesus never leaves me so I know He's always there

Ever since I learned to walk by faith.

Walking with the Son, heaven is begun .

I'm walking in the "Son" light every day.

Chorus:

I’m walking in the Son light of the love of Jesus

Basking in the glory of His love!

I’m walking in the Son light of the love of Jesus

Shining down from somewhere up above.

Never have I ever known such marvelous radiance

It fills my life and sets my heart aglow—

I’m walking in the “Son” light of the love of Jesus

Glory how it thrills my soul!

Verse 2:

The master's yoke is easy and his burden is so light.

The enemy can't take my joy from me.

Satan was defeated long ago at Calvary

When Jesus gained eternal victory.

We've just got to tell the world of His all‑surpassing love.

It's warm and bright like sunlight in the spring.

Walking with the Son, Heaven is begun.

We’re walking in the “Son” light of the King!

Verse 3:

If your load is heavy and the road is all uphill

And all your skies are overcast and gray.

Remember Jesus loves you and you know he always will

He’ll walk with you if you'll walk in his way.

Weather makes no difference when he's walking by your side

His glory can break through on any day.

Walking with the Son, heaven is begun.

We’re walking in the "Son" light every day!

I’m Rick Blumenberg and that’s “My View from Tanner Creek”.

   

Three Stages of a Godly Life

by Rick Blumenberg / @rickblumenberg

The word Israel means "He Struggles with God". It was given to Jacob as a new name that better described his relationship with God and became the name of his descendants.

The stages of a godly life are defined by our struggles, especially those we experi­ence with God. If, in a lifetime we go all the way through, experiencing all three stages, life usually comes to a good ending. If we get stuck in stage one or two—not so much.

Here is my take on the three stages of a Godly life. If you would like a scriptural background for this writing a scripture is given for each stage. 

The Jacob Stage

This stage (Genesis 32:28 and 35:9-11) consists of resisting God, even trying to run from him, and often, after partial surrender, continuing to question God’s call. The norm for this stage is running from God and fighting with God and it continues until we realize it is futile. This stage of Jacob’s life was so consistent God finally changed his name to Israel, meaning “He struggles with God”.

Jacob struggled with God throughout most of his life. We only move out of this stage by genuine conver­sion. But it is possible to be partially converted and remain stuck here for a long, long time. 

The Inner Demon Stage

The inner demon stage of life (Mark 9:14-24) is when there is a desire to know God, but our inner demons continually fight to drag us back to a life without God.

During this stage we struggle to accept God's help, as we overcome inner, innate resistance to God's Lordship. This stage follows genuine conversion as we struggle together with God, trying to learn how to give him genuine Lordship over all of life.

We struggle, but with God's help, perhaps to right past wrongs perpetrated in the days of rebellion, or other challenges from our pre-Christian life in learning to be like Jesus. While trying to serve God faithfully, the struggle here is in learning how to do so. Learning to trust God is not easy and this struggle may be intense.

We move out of this stage through full sanctification, when we totally surrender all of life to God. It is possible to be fully saved, but resist sanctifica­tion and remain stuck here a long time. Serving God this way is hard work as we try to do the Spirit's work instead of depending totally on him to do his work in us. 

The Stephen Stage

Acts 7:54-60 describes the sanctified life of Stephen, the first known martyr among Christ-followers. This is a time of wholeheartedly desiring the Will of God. Stephen had no struggle against God. All his energy worked with God as he struggled to accomplish godly goals and purposes.

In this stage God’s goals are our goals. We work fully with God and all struggles are in the power of God through God’s Holy Spirit. This is when we most experience God's blessing. Serving God this way is pure joy even in difficult times. When we leave this stage the right way, we go to heaven! 

Note these are not really "time", but "sequence" stages. Each stage lasts until we finally understand and are led by God into the next phase. These three stages are normal stages of Christian growth, but the time spent in each can vary greatly from person to person. It is important to understand that salvation through Christ is all that's required for heaven. The purpose of sanctification is to help us live the Christ-like life here on earth. 

I'm Rick Blumenberg . . . and that's My View from Tanner Creek.

   

When it is God’s Will for us to Suffer

Sometimes it is God’s will for us to suffer. I know we don’t like to hear that, but it is  true.

Peter wrote (I Peter 4:19) "So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good." I believe this makes it clear that it is sometimes God's will for us to suffer. Does this mean God is a sadistic God who enjoys seeing his creation suffer? Not at all, but in the same way that we sometimes need to suffer in order to accomplish something in life there are times when God knows his will cannot be done except through suffering. The question is who will do the suffering?

I think Peter was saying if that is what God wants from us, then we should be willing to do it. It doesn't mean, however, that God asks us to suffer gratuitously, or for no reason, just for some sadistic satisfaction. When God asks us to suffer, be sure he has a reason and his grace is sufficient for us to be victorious. The gift of grace is a small price for the suffering and who knows, the accomplishments of our sufferings may eventually become the greatest joy of our lives.

Some time ago I met a gentleman who was a recent convert to Christ. He said the thing that brought him to Christ was observing a co-worker who was going through a very difficult time in life. She had such a beautiful attitude and showed such amazing grace in the midst of such a horrendous time that he finally had to ask, “How do you do it?”

She told him it was Jesus—that his grace gave her the strength she needed, not only to go through the suffering, but to do her best to be like Jesus in her attitude. It took a while for him to believe on his own, but he said there was no doubt that the way she dealt with her suffering was what brought him to Christ.

If God had something he needed you to do in order to accomplish something good for his kingdom would you be willing to do it? If so, then you are suffering according to God’s will.

If an unbeliever causes persons to suffer because they are Christians, that is probably not God’s will, but it is God’s will for us to suffer in a Christ-like way. Such suffering will provide evidence the Holy Spirit can use to touch the heart of the unbeliever and perhaps bring him or her to a personal relationship with Christ.

Remember also that Jesus said, “I have told you these things so that you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33^(NIV)) I believe Jesus was saying we will sometimes have to suffer. However, he was assuring us we will never suffer alone as long as we trust in him. He is with us. And we will overcome through the marvelous power of the indwelling Christ.

Jesus is a perfect example—if he had not been willing to suffer for us we would not have salvation. It was God's will for Jesus to suffer in order that the world might be saved. Jesus was willing to suffer—leaving the wonders of heaven and the glorious presence of God, the Father, and coming to a primitive, poverty stricken earth in order to bring us salvation and the awesome privilege of living every moment of our lives with the living Christ indwelling us so that wherever we go and whatever we do, his wonderful presence can be revealed by his Holy Spirit living in us.

I'm Rick Blumenberg . . . and that's My View from Tanner Creek.

Legacy of a Praying Saint

First Church of God in St Joseph, Michigan, just lost a great saint in our prayer ministry with the recent death of Catherine Mommany. Her funeral was today. I know she is happy to be with her beloved husband and a daughter, both who preceded her, but her children who remain, the rest of her family, and all her many friends will miss her and her extensive ministry of fervent prayer. 

Andrea wrote on Facebook, “She was one of the people who prayed for me that i come to Christ. I will be forever thankful to and for her. She was a pillar of the Church. We will dearly dearly miss her!!! I loved her calm sweet smile. She was always the first one at prayer before service on Sundays. O man what am i gonna do without her??” 

Actually Catherine prayed for all of us—even you who didn’t know her. She prayed for all the saints, as the Bible teaches we should (Ephesians 6:18) and she prayed for all the lost people on earth, as Jesus taught us to do in the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:10). That may seem like too great a scope for one person to pray, but Catherine knew it wasn’t too big for God.

And the effects of Catherine’s prayers will continue. Her work isn’t done until all of time is done because the influence of her godly life will continue to grow in the lives of those she has prayed with and for until the end of time. 

Goodnight Catherine. We’ll see you in the morning. Today in the service Pastor Confer gave us your message about heaven—“Be there!” Even though you’ve been promoted to glory, your prayers are still working to accomplish God’s will here on earth. And more people will be there because of your influence. 

Catherine didn’t have a computer on which to read my blog, but she always read it and encouraged me because another reader, our good friend Shirley Zick, would read it online and then print it off for Catherine to read. What a wonderful friend! Thank you Shirley! Catherine so appreciated your kindness and I treasure you as a friend and reader. 

I'm Rick Blumenberg . . . and that's My View from Tanner Creek.

Earth, The Cradle of Life

John tells us in his first letter to the church that "...God has given us eternal life and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." (I John 5:11-12)

In other words, life does not exist without Jesus Christ.

Physical life is dependent upon Jesus because He is both Creator and Sustainer of all life. Every living creature, all minerals and plant life exist through the life of Jesus. Apparently, if He would cease to live, all other life would instantly cease as well.

Does this mean the cycles of life—spring, summer, fall and winter might lose their consistency? Atoms, which make up everything physical, would dissolve? Planets and other heavenly bodies might fly out of orbit and explode into nothingness? I’m not sure, but I know without Jesus, creation would return to the void from which it came.

Jesus, of course, who is himself God, will always live as Creator and Source of all of life (both physical and eternal) because as God He cannot die. He created physical life as a cradle for eternal life. The cradle is temporary, as all cradles are, but it is God’s plan that during physical life, in Christ we discover a oneness with our Creator and begin to live in the fullness and abundance of His Life, which is not temporary at all, but everlasting, or eternal.

Paul wrote about it in Acts 17:24-28(NIV).
"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.'…”

In this life we all live in the Presence of God through Jesus Christ and enjoy the benefits of his Life even though many don't know him, or, if they know him, they reject him for some trivial thing they think is more valuable. However, as long as we live this earthly life, whether or not we recognize it, we experience God through Jesus Christ because He is the Lord of all creation.

Tragically some people leave the cradle of life without ever discovering its purpose—eternal life in heaven, the maturity of human life. Or, having discovered it, they reject it and go into eternity totally unprepared—living and dying without ever knowing the eternal life for which they were created, wastefully discarding the enormous efforts of God in our behalf.

On the other hand, those who find the true meaning of life discover in this cradle experience a freshness and vitality that flows freely from the Life of Jesus. And when we leave this infancy of the temporal it is not really death (although we call it that) but a casting away of the shackles of our dependence on temporary physical life and a joyful acceptance of our promotion into the fullness of the abundant, eternal life for which we were created.

I'm Rick Blumenberg . . .and that's My View from Tanner Creek.

(This article was first published as a column in "Insights" in the Herald-Palladium newspaper, St Joseph, Michigan)

How can a loving God send someone to hell?

God doesn't send anyone to hell. Hell is real, but it is a result of humanity rejecting God. Scripture shows us how to escape hell and spend eternity with God. God's perfect plan is that we, though conceived on earth, are eternal souls who live eternally with him.

Sin separates us from God and that is hell—to be eternally separated from God—whereas in heaven we live in the eternal presence of God. God wants to save us from hell so he sent Jesus to redeem us from sin and bring us back into His glorious Presence. In a sense, our physical bodies and earthly existence separate us from God because he is Spirit and we are flesh. We have a taste of hell when we cannot see God face to face because our earthly eyes cannot see spirit, whether the Spirit of God or the spirit of a brother or sister in Christ. In heaven we will see the glorified bodies of our brothers and sisters, as well as God and His holy angels, as easily as we see earthly bodies here.

Satan’s desires oppose God. Satan wants to separate humanity from God eternally and have them with him (not because he loves us) because he wants to destroy God’s creation. The human heart is good and beautiful and true only when totally surrendered to God. Without God we, like Satan, can be vile and capable of every kind of evil. The prophet Jeremiah warns (17:9) "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked." Without God, the heart’s deceitfulness runs rampant, so Satan succeeds when he separates us from God.

When God created humanity, we were designed for God. We cannot live without him. While on earth, we can survive physically without God but only because of his loving kindness and generosity. He continues to give life and breath even when we reject him. However, when our physical bodies die (and they do because our bodies were not created for eternity) we are homeless and separated from God. Satan has accomplished his desire—to separate us eternally from our Creator and his unconditional love.

Hell is a "place" for Satan and his demons. They want no part of God and probably prefer where they are, to heaven. We, on the other hand, were not created to be separated from God and we perish without him. Because our souls are eternal, the death of the soul is not like the death of a physical body, which will eventually be complete so our earthly bodies find rest in death. Without the redeeming power of God, once sin enters our lives we are condemned to eternal death—prolonged and eternal—absent from a loving God and in the presence of Satan and his demons.

If such a thing sounds horrible to us with our limited understanding, imagine how it grieves God that those he created to live eternally as his children instead experience eternity without him and his goodness. The Bible is clear God doesn't want that to happen to anyone—"not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9NIV). “God wants everyone to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.” (I Timothy 2:1-4NIV). “God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the whole world, through him, might be saved.” (John 3:17).

You are God’s child. He loves you and wants you to experience the full blessing of His unconditional love. I urge you to open your heart to him now and invite him in. If you need help, call a pastor or Christian friend. Help is available.

I'm Rick Blumenberg . . .
and that's My View from Tanner Creek.