Dale Cresap's blog

Do you take the Bible literally? Many people spiritualize scriptural accounts or assign them to myth and legend rather than applying them to themselves. In so doing they explain away the power of my word. Yet nearly all of my teaching was in parables about wheat and tares, lost coins, valuable pearls, and many other illustrations. By taking the Bible literally you can avoid dealing with the truth of it by saying that none of these apply directly to you. Yet these figurative lessons contain the truth of my Kingdom. Start by taking my word seriously and conform to what it would speak to you whether literal or figurative. Blessed is he who trembles at my word. 

What are you afraid of? You may say that you are afraid of nothing, but fear can be a factor in your life without you being aware of it, even as I confronted the Pharisees who were blind without being aware of it. My word says that he who fears is not made perfect in love. You may think that love and hate are opposites but if you accept the incompatibility and exclusivity of love and fear then you can examine yourself for any deficiencies in your expression of love and see if they may be traced to residual fear. Do not be afraid to make this search or of what you may find. Come to me for perfect love casts out fear. 

You have received my love and entered into life. You are in turn called to extend love to others. This means you should be accepting and not judgmental. This is easier if the people you encounter are accepting and non-judgmental toward you, but my commandment applies even if they are narrow, intolerant, and judgmental of you. My word says that everyone loves their friends, but you are called to the higher standard of loving your enemies. This raises you above the level of being reactionary to the place where love is a characteristic. This only occurs through my transforming power.

Do you rejoice that you are under grace rather than under the law? You should, but you should not think that this leaves you free to do anything you want. Consider the contrasts I presented in the Sermon on the Mount. I presented the law as it was written, but went on to present my own standards which were higher and more demanding in every case. I said that unless your righteousness exceeded that of the scribes and Pharisees you would not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. People will do more for love than they will for imposed requirements. Have you ever felt my love constrain you? Yet at the same time it enables you to do more than you could by yourself, and so fulfill the perfect law of love and liberty. 

Have you ever asked me to be present with you during a time of special need? Were you pleased that I responded? Yet you hold the idea of my omnipresence as a theological doctrine, and you have my promise that I am with you always, even unto the end of the age. What changes when you ask me to be with you? It is just your awareness of me, but don’t dismiss this lightly. For knowing that I am with you changes you. For my Word says that you are changed into my likeness from one degree of glory to another, but this occurs as you behold me. I want you to engage with the transformational process of intentional awareness of my presence with you. 

Are you concerned about the absolute accuracy of scripture? Are you equally concerned that it be vivid and alive to you? My word tells a story about the multiplication of loaves and fishes. These were the common menu items of the time. Perhaps you are more familiar with burgers and buns. You have my permission to think in these terms if it will increase the impact my word has in your life. You even have my permission to use your imagination to place yourself in Bible scenes if you can do so without compromising the intent of the word. I leave the door wide open for you to make the Bible real to you and incorporate it in your life. 

Do you assume that I love you when you do right and am angry with you when you do wrong? I tell you that I love you at all times. Bad parents make their love conditional and offer or withhold it based on behavior and performance. Good parents want their children to make life-affirming choices, but love them whether they do or not. If the best of parents can do this can you accept that I do because I am better than the best of parents? You have my promise that neither life nor death nor principalities nor powers nor any created thing can separate you from my love, not even you. 

Do you recognize how deeply you are influenced by your culture? You may think that your perspective is entirely based on my Word and my Kingdom, but you are nonetheless a product of your culture as well. I have other sheep who are not of this fold. I have believers in other nations and cultures. They too are part of my one body, but they come to it from a different direction than you do. It is beneficial for you to seek them out that you may learn from them. It is good for you to have some of your unexamined assumptions challenged and your thoughts provoked to increase your understanding and achieve unity in my body. 

Do you let strangers or enemies live in your house? Aren’t you particular about whom you allow inside your home? Yet do you ever let such people live inside your head? You should be even more careful about this. Negative interactions with other people can haunt you long after the original offense. The other person may have forgotten about it even if they noticed it in the first place, but it can be a source of ongoing distress for you. Your mind should be an inner sanctuary of peace. Do you find it difficult to evict the intruders? I understand this and if you seek my assistance I will send them away. 

I used manna to provide for my people and also illustrate the need for regular spiritual nourishment. Manna was a daily provision that could not be preserved but there is another provision that is even more immediate. You receive oxygen in every breath. Can you store up air for future use? I breathed life into you to make you alive and breath is a Biblical image of spirit. Manna illustrates a daily need for me. Are you willing to extend this concept to every moment? For I am as close to you as your very breath and in me you live and move and have your being.