When God’s “Yes” is Second Best

By Rick Blumenberg @rickblumenberg

Some people think the primary purpose of prayer is to convince God to a change of mind so we get what we want or think we need. But God’s choice for you is for the best. We’re reminded of this in Luke’s version of the Christmas story. The last verse of the angels’ song was about mankind “on whom his favor rests.” (Luke 1:14^NIV)

God is not our enemy

Jesus came to earth to tell us personally that God is not our enemy. He is our Heavenly Father and loves us unconditionally—regardless of whether or not we deserve it. He is not trying to defeat us but to help us succeed. His goal is not to harm us but to help us.

God is on our side

In other words, God is on our side. We are the people on whom his favor rests. But which people? Not white people, or black people, or brown people or yellow people, but all people. His favor is not on, rich people, or poor people, or middle class people, but on all people. Actually his favor is not even limited to people. Even though I believe mankind is God’s highest and most favored earthly creation, I believe he loves all of his creation. I base that on my limited knowledge of the incredible care he exercised in creation. No creature is too small to be exquisitely designed. No earthly creature is without purpose and value. With every creation God is the Creator “par excellance” and I believe this indicates his love.

Then why would God say “No”?

Through the years I have heard many things about prayer with which I strongly disagreed. One person said, “What good does it do to pray? God is going to do what he’s going to do anyway.”

According to this line of thinking, the purpose of prayer is to convince God to a change of mind.

Another person commented that if I had any faith I would not pray for God’s will to be done. “Just pray for what you want with faith God will provide.”

But if God’s will for each of us is based on his favor, then surely what God desires is the best thing for us. Whatever God wants for us must be what’s best for us, or at least best for his kingdom. And if my goal in life is that “God’s kingdom come and God’s will be done” (Matthew 6:10^NIV) then even if it isn’t what I think I want for me personally, if God knows it will benefit the kingdom in some way (even if known only to him) then I at least want to want it.

Never pray for a Divine change of Mind

So the upshot of all this is that we never, ever, under any circumstances, pray for God to change his mind. If (as I believe) God knows what is best and if (as I believe) God wants what is best in the situation for which I pray, then why would I ever try to change the mind of God? Our task is to help accomplish the will of God through our prayers. Why, you ask, does God need our help if he is really God? Good question! The answer is, God doesn’t need our help but welcomes it none-the-less. When we work together with God we share in his glory and the glory of his accomplishment. Our heavenly Father, loving parent that he is, wants that for each of us.

So God’s “No” is just as loving as a “Yes”

When is God’s “Yes” second best? When we convince him to change from a “No” to a “Yes”.

A “No” from God is just as loving as a “Yes”. If we convince God to a change of mind (from a “No” to a “Yes”) the best we could ever expect would be second best.

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

        

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My theology book

Let's Get Down to Basics—

An Introduction to Christian Living"

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Rick

Dad’s Moonlight Prayer

By Rick Blumenberg / @rickblumenberg

It was a warm summer night on our family farm in Southeast Missouri. I was in my middle teens and our home was small with no place to be alone. It was late in the evening, about ten, and before I went to bed I went outside into the moonlight. It was quiet except for the croaking of the frogs, the chirping of the crickets and an occasional hoot of an owl. In the distance I could hear the sound of a foghorn from a riverboat pushing barges down the Mississippi River just a few miles away. 

I thought I was alone, but instead, I happened upon my father as he knelt in prayer beside an old wash kettle that lay upside down there among the clutter of the back yard.

I have many pictures of Dad in my mind, working on the farm as he drove the tractor, milked the cow, or fed the pigs. Often he could be seen walking along the edge of a field with hoe in hand as he chopped down the many weeds or clumps of Johnson grass that had somehow escaped the plow. I can also see him leading singing, or Wednesday night Bible study at Pulltight Church, or preaching to a small congregation from the Word at the Mounds congregation.

They are pleasant pictures because he was a good father. But the best picture of all and the one that most influences my own life is the memory of seeing him talking to our heavenly Father that night in the moonlight.

He was a great man of prayer with a gift of evangelism. His example and heritage of faith lives on in the lives of his descendants and many others here on earth and in a multitude of those redeemed to whom he witnessed and won, and who’ve gone on to rejoice with him in the Presence of the Most High God, our Heavenly Father.

On this Father’s Day weekend I have good memories of Roy Blumenberg, my earthly father, whose example still helps me to love my Heavenly Father even more.

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

     

A Prayer We Don’t Expect to be Answered

By Rick Blumenberg  / @rickblumenberg

There is, it seems, one prayer Jesus taught us to pray that we Christians don’t expect God to answer. We are to pray to our heavenly Father “Your kingdom come, your will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.” However, very few Christians really believe the time will ever come on earth when God’s kingdom will come as it is in heaven. We seem to expect the world to get worse and worse instead of better and better, which is what we should expect if God’s will is done.

The prayer Jesus taught us to pray has always been God’s plan for the world. The best Old Testament description of this prophecy is found in Jeremiah 31:31-34 where God spoke of the new covenant he would make when Jesus would come. We read in verse 34, “And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord’: for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Apparently God expects a time to come when everyone on earth will love and serve him. Apparently too, Jesus is calling on us to help bring this about through our prayers.

How often do we pray in faith for God’s kingdom to come and God’s will to be done here on earth? When we pray the “Lord’s Prayer” do we really think about what we’re asking for and do we pray in faith that it will be answered?

I think our pessimism about the future of Christianity may come from a misunderstanding of Jesus’ statements quoted in Matthew 24:7-9 and Mark 13:7-9. I believe Jesus was talking about the early days of Christianity, not the last days, as these verses are usually interpreted. He was bracing his disciples for the fact that following him would not be easy. And sometimes it will be exceedingly difficult. What did Jesus mean when, after mentioning these things, he said, “these are the beginnings of birth pangs”. Could he have meant, when this happens to you remember, you are birthing a new world order and births come with great pain. Satan and the then current world order did not want the new era to be born and resisted it with ferocity. Resistance is still very real. Persecution is happening in many places of the world, but this is not the end. God is still on his throne. On the other hand, we know when it is finished, giving birth brings great joy.

Our task, as followers of Christ, is to do what he told us to do—pray in God’s Kingdom! As we pray, of course we must work, but we are confused if we think the work is more important than prayer. We live now in the “greater works” time Jesus spoke about. Greater works than the miracles Jesus did? Absolutely! Jesus still lives and is still working, but in a much greater area through his Holy Spirit. He continues to do the works of God with great power. But he set the world up to operate on our prayers and our faith. He counts on us to pray in God’s Kingdom!

Here is the really tough question: Would Jesus teach us to pray a prayer he knew would never be answered? I don’t think so!

This was an assignment for all Christians—to pray faithfully for God’s Kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus gave us the assignment and the method to bring it about—prayer. If we use God’s method we can pray in God’s Kingdom! Do you want to know what happens when we don’t use God’s method? Just look around and see for yourself. Alright then, now that we know let’s do it!

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

    

Let’s Get Down to Basics: An Introduction to Christian Living

64 page, soft cover

$5.00 cost plus $2 postage. (PayPal or checks accepted.)

For purchase, contact me on Facebook/Rick Blumenberg


Let’s Get Down to Basics—An Introduction to Christian Living is a 64 page book for persons wanting to investigate the Christian faith. It is also good for new Christians who want a good beginning for a life-time commitment to Christ and for mature Christians who want to review some basic teachings of the Christian faith.

The biggest problem with this book is the small print size. I used the small print so I could get all the text into only 64 pages to save money and because I was young and had better eyesight.

 “Basics” is written from the Wesleyan-Arminian perspective as curriculum for a new Christians’ class but also works well as a stand-alone read. Here is an outline of the chapters with short explanations about what each teaches.

Chapter One: Bible Study is Basic, teaches the importance of regular and sustained Bible study for those who want to live a Christ-like life.

Chapter Two: Am I Really a Christian? This chapter helps the new Christian to confirm their relationship with Christ so they can live with assurance so they will not be confused when Satan tries to tempt them to doubt their faith and dessert it.

Chapter Three: I am Stronger than Temptation. Chapter 3 deals with the reality of temptation and helps the new Christian know how to face it victoriously and defeat it any time it rears its ugly head.

Chapter Four: Prayer is My Privilege. Prayer is the greatest privilege we have as the people of God and is our greatest help for normal everyday living. God gave us prayer because he loves us and wants to be constantly available to us. Prayer is his method.

Chapter Five: I Can Discover God’s Will. This chapter introduces and explains the concept that God’s will for us is what is best for us and that when we seek and find God’s will, we also find the best life has to offer.

Chapter Six: What Do You Mean…Stewardship? Giving to God through tithes and offerings is an important part of Christian living, but it is sometimes difficult for the new believer to accept. It is important and this chapter will help you understand why.

Chapter Seven: A Second Step. Salvation is not the end of the Christian life, but the beginning, or first step. Step two is learning to surrender our lives to the leadership of the Holy Spirit and allow him permanent residence in our heart, mind and life. He is the comforter, counselor and guide for whom we are most grateful.

Chapter Eight: I Have a Spiritual Gift? Explains the concept of spiritual gifts, how we receive them as gifts from God and how to develop them for greater effectiveness to bless our own lives and the lives of those in our sphere of influence. We don’t choose them. They are gifts from God, given at his discretion to bless our lives and build his kingdom.

Chapter Nine: Living Holy. God’s plan is for his Spirit to live in us and our call from God is to surrender our lives to him so he can make us holy, like he is. As Christians, we are sacred temples in which God lives when we allow him access or invite him in. This chapter tells in understandable language how to make this happen.

Chapter Ten: I Can Tell Others! Evangelism: sharing our faith with friends and family, is one of the greatest joys of the Christian life, but one that causes the most consternation and feelings of failure. This chapter will help you to understand it and hopefully help you to witness to your faith with greater confidence.

Chapter Eleven: Symbols of My Faith. Ordinances practiced by many Christian groups include baptism, communion and foot-washing. These are symbols of faith—symbolic actions that are living pictures of spiritual realities. You will learn their importance and how to practice them in the church.

Chapter Twelve: My Faith as a Parent. Parenting is at the same time, the most difficult and most rewarding task you will ever attempt. The Christian is privileged to parent under the leadership of God, who is the best parent and is both our parent and our best example for parenting.

Chapter Thirteen: The Last Chapter. This title has a double meaning. The literal last chapter of the book, it deals with the church age, the last chapter in Kingdom history. It gives an amillenial view of last things or the way God plans to finish his earthly program.
   

Nelson Mandela

@rickblumenberg

President Nelson Mandela died today. I think there is no doubt he was the greatest man of the entire twentieth century and his impact on the twenty-first century will continue. He died today, yes, but he will live on for decades in the loving memory of all who knew him and for centuries in the studies of all who are students of freedom, forgiveness and firmness. He embodied all three of these virtues and his influence will live on far beyond any of us alive today.

It is ironic to note that this man who embodied freedom spent twenty-seven years in prison but when he was released and went on to become president of the nation that imprisoned him, he did so without denying freedom to those who had falsely imprisoned him for so many long years. He did so because he realized the value of freedom was so much greater than the high cost of revenge. He did not allow his stolen freedom to become an excuse to seek revenge on those who wronged him.

It appears his love of freedom and the way lived out that value in his own life and behavior brought an out-pouring of love and appreciation from almost all of his countrymen, including those who had once been his enemies and who became his friends mostly because he refused to continue being their enemy and then led the nation in a way that convinced even his enemies to become his friends. Like Jesus, he ridded himself of his enemies by converting them into friends.

He was also embodied the virtue of firmness. Throughout his life, he succeeded far beyond what any could have conceived because he held firm to those values that shaped him while rejecting that which he knew would only bring destruction to him, to his beloved nation and to the world. He firmly refused to let those prison years be wasted and instead used them to become the man who could not only be president of South Africa, but could lead all South Africans to build a democratic and capitalistic society that would embrace all its people as persons of ultimate worth and dignity. That firmness and resolve helped to bring about the robust nation of South Africa that we know today.

But possibly his greatest embodiment was the virtue of forgiveness. Without it, those other two values would never have endured. When he left prison after twenty-seven years he fully realized that he had a choice. He could continue to hate the people who stole twenty-seven years of his life and thus destroy his own future or he could forgive those guilty persons and all of South African white society and then spend the rest of his life bringing peace and reconciliation to a nation torn by the strife of apartheid. Nelson Mandela chose forgiveness. That choice molded the remainder of his life and even his death so that, as mentioned earlier, most of his former enemies became his friends and many of them genuinely loved him as a man of awesome integrity and amazing leadership ability.

I never knew Nelson Mandela except what I read (which was extensive) and what I heard on the news. But when I learned of his death earlier today I had to fight back tears. I realize I have come to love him as another “father” who taught me how to live. My life is so much better and so much more worthwhile because of his life and the way he lived it. His influence on me, who he never knew and who lived halfway around the world, was profound. I don’t think I am a great exception.

My prayer for the Mandela family and for all the people of South Africa is that they grieve well in this enormous loss—as they realize the privilege that was theirs, to know him, to love him and to follow him as leader of their great nation. I pray also that God will bless them in their grieving as they experience His marvelous peace in their hearts and on their land.

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