Dale Cresap's blog

Do you think that you will get what you deserve? Or that you deserved what you already got? The concepts of commerce and your justice system are deeply embedded in your thinking, and you can see causes and effects directly. But in the ultimate sense that really matters these concepts break down. For I make the sun to shine and the rain to fall on the righteous and the wicked, and both also suffer regardless of their righteousness of lack thereof. Don’t those who have received salvation acknowledge that it is a free gift? If you receive grace you are getting better than you deserve. Don’t resent it when others get better than they deserve too. 

My word gives you a protocol for dealing with heretics. This is a last resort for those who will not stop teaching false doctrine. Do you ever want to apply this ultimate sanction against sinners? Yet the Bible makes a distinction between those who sin and those who propagate false teaching, since these are not the same things. Don’t you see me making the same distinction during my time of ministry on earth? Those who sin harm themselves but those who teach heresy harm many. Correction is required in both cases. You should not be eager to rush into this, but be eager to accept and restore those who repent. 

In the beginning I told Adam that the ground was cursed for the sake of his disobedience and that he would have to toil to make it produce. You refer to this as the fall of man, and so you have to earn a living to this day. Do you see your job as an impediment to serving me? If you had more free time available would you use it for Christian ministry and service? For most people it is not the concept of work that bothers them, but the tasks available, the amount they pay, and who they work for. I want you to have a positive view of this rather than viewing it as an unpleasant necessity. You are working for me. Trust me to give you the right assignment and meet your needs.

Have you ever been defensive? In this condition you are ready to fight for something. You may think that being defensive is not as bad as being offensive, and that it is a normal reaction to offense, but it still closes you off to learning and growth. What do you have to defend? I am well prepared to defend the truth, and I can defend you better than you can defend yourself. In following my call to die to yourself you should release personal opinions and not defend them either. Are you amazed at my commandment that you resist not evil, but turn the other cheek? Those who do find that they have a strong defender, and position themselves to learn and grow. 

It was once accepted that only one style of music was suitable for Christian worship. Now you encounter many more styles depending on the setting. Do you enjoy the increase in variety or does it disturb you? You are entitled to your own preferences and these can be as narrow as you please. These are called tastes and are uniquely yours. Yet my Kingdom is broad and inclusive rather than narrow and selective. Do not let your tastes become a basis for division. I criticized the Pharisees for letting their traditions make my word of no effect. Don’t let your taste in music or anything else divide my body. 

You live in a world of time, speed, and distance. You make good estimates of travel times based on experience and expect them to be fairly consistent. This makes for an efficient use of your time and allows you to keep a schedule. Yet in the economy of my Kingdom, you are always available for an assignment that you may not have planned for. A Samaritan was traveling and encountered a crime victim in need of assistance. He stopped to help, causing him an unexpected delay and expense. Yet for this he is known throughout the world as the Good Samaritan. Are you willing to have your day interrupted to carry out my assignments?

You experience time as a continuous progression, but you have a regular means of tracking it with clocks and calendars. Different cultures have different calendars so not everyone agrees on the beginning and ending of a year, and the selection is somewhat arbitrary. Do you spend some time reflecting on what has happened in a year when one rolls into the next? It is good to be aware of changes and progress. Yet you shouldn’t wait for a new year to deal with issues in your life with resolutions, for I use a shorter time horizon. I call you to live in the present moment, and your time is always ready. Don’t worry about tomorrow, for sufficient unto the day is the evil and grace thereof, and my mercies are new every morning. 

You are correct in thinking that salvation is the central event in the life of any person. Yet you would be wrong to think that my work in a person’s life begins and ends there. I was at work in your life before you were saved, to break up the stony ground and prepare it to receive me. I continue to work in your life after it received the good seed and life came forth. I weed and water and watch over your growth. Salvation was an event that changed your state of being, but in another sense your life is an ongoing story of becoming, and so I have called you to follow me on the strait and narrow way that leads to life. 

Photographers travel great distances to the most scenic areas of the world to take pictures. Those with even greater vision see beauty wherever they look, and their photos reveal to others the beauty that was there all along. Not everyone is a photographer, but beauty is admired and appreciated by all. Yet do you see beauty everywhere you look? You understand the theology of living in a fallen world, yet do not be quick to criticize and reject it. I see beauty everywhere I look, and as you are transformed into my likeness you will too. I invite you to declare and affirm it that you may become an agent of beauty. 

You have heard believers pose the question, what would Jesus do? It is good for you to ponder and reflect on the actions you imagine I would take in response to any situation. Do you assume that the answer would be identical for every believer? If all strive to be Christlike, does it imply that alls strive to be the same? No. Can you accept this as a mystery? For I created each one with a unique identity and destiny. I am big enough that each of my disciples can follow me and be transformed into my likeness without looking identical to everyone else who does the same thing.