Dale Cresap's blog

Are you familiar with the concept of karma? Good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. Grace is undeserved favor, getting good things you didn’t deserve. Doesn’t that sound like a better deal than karma? Yet if you mention the two terms anywhere other than in a church you can expect a more favorable response for karma. The Biblical term for this is righteousness by works of the law. Why is grace offensive? There is something in human nature that wants to be deserving, that wants a reward for effort. A free gift seems too good to be true. But to accept it is to forever acknowledge dependence and the end of self-improvement projects by your own effort. The death that this involves is the only way to eternal life. 

Do you understand that if you are saved you will go to heaven when you die? Yet the Bible teachers assure you that eternal life is available now. Do you see how both of these can be true? For the Bible teaches you to lay down your life and die to yourself that you may follow me. Have you read these passages and considered them a fearful burden? I want you to see them in a positive light. It is true that death and eternity are connected, but you don’t have to wait until the end of your life to experience either one. If you are willing to apply these passages you can have eternal life now if you die now. 

Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Do you think of this as a statement with deep and dark meaning? You could also view it in a very simple sense, that where you spend your money is a true indicator of the condition of your heart. Some people are spendthrifts, but even those who are otherwise frugal tend to have an area in which they spend freely. What you value is an indication of your values. Your area of greatest spending isn’t necessarily an idol, but it is a good place to start looking for them. If your heart is in my Kingdom you will demonstrate it by generosity with your treasure. 

Are you skeptical of the story of Jonah because you think it is a fish story? Yet I mentioned it in reference to the similarities to my own story. You could look beyond the fish to see the real essence of the story is about a reluctant prophet. I called Jonah to serve me and he did it under protest, to put it mildly. He was my prophet but he was full of prejudice and he did not share my values. My word teaches you to love your enemies and I was trying to teach Jonah the same lesson, which he was slow to learn. Do you look upon your enemies as a ministry opportunity and rejoice when they respond and I pour out grace upon them? I'm leaving town for a few days.

Do you think the Bible implies that it is better to be poor than to be rich? Do you see comfort there for the poor and warnings to the wealthy? Yet who is eager to be poor to be blessed? The real problem isn’t money, but the love of money, and the greed, pride, control issues, and idolatry that follow. Do you understand that everything you have is a gift from me, even your very life and existence? Don’t lose sight of this as your blessings increase and think you obtained them yourself. Maintain an attitude of humility and gratitude and my gifts to you will be a blessing rather than a curse. You can be poor in spirit even if you are rich. 

I created man and said that it was not good for him to be alone, so I made a companion suitable for him. Men and women have been attracted to each other ever since. And I said that it was good, but there is the risk for both men and women that they will seek in relationship with each other what they can only find in me. This is a form of idolatry and it leads to expectations that no one can fulfill. This creates pressures to force apart what I have joined together. Substituting anything for the fulfillment I alone can give will cause you grief, anguish, and loss. Seek me first and all your other affections and expectations will be properly ordered.

I warned against the pitfalls of affluence, and an objective reading of the Bible would make you think it is something to be avoided. But who can read the Bible objectively enough to turn down wealth if it is offered to them? Do you understand that money brings with it a mindset of control and sufficiency? The poor have to trust in me because they have no resources of their own. They are not surprised when trouble comes for they see it as an inherent part of life. Have you seen the wealthy bewildered in trials because they thought their money would prevent them? I’m prepared to open the windows of heaven to bless you. Make it easy for me and don’t set your heart on riches when they increase. 

When you first come to me and we begin a relationship, how great is your understanding of me? Most people start with a small and flawed image of me. I am receptive beyond your ability to comprehend, and will accept you no matter how limited your understanding is, but I want you to grow in faith. Consider the story of the mustard seed, which I use as an example of faith. It is a small seed that grows into a large plant. This story from nature illustrates a spiritual principle. It is normal for your faith to start out small, but it is not normal for it to remain small. Your faith will increase in like manner as your increase in understanding my true nature. 

The first commandment is that you shall have no other gods before me. This prohibits idolatry. You know that idols are not necessarily graven images, and not necessarily material things. They can be habits, attachments, and mindsets. Do you think idols must be evil things in and of themselves? But you can make idols of good things. Idolatry is turning anything of relative and temporal value into something of ultimate value. Christians should be aware of this because they spend their lives pursuing good things, and they do this at my direction and in obedience to me. But even the good things I give you are not a substitute for me. 

Do you believe in equality? Nearly everyone does, but since people are not identical or equal in a mathematical sense some careful thought is required to understand the ways in which people can be equal. Even then there is a tendency for those who see themselves to be less than equal to grasp for advancement. My word addresses this situation when it says that I did not consider equality with the Father as something to be grasped. You know from the doctrine of the Trinity that I have a closer identity with the Father than between any two people, even twins. If I didn’t grasp for equality then you shouldn’t either.