Dale Cresap's blog

Do you assume that the world is malleable to conform to your preferences? You understand that natural laws like gravity work whether you like them or not, but do you assume that everything else is up for grabs? I have given commandments for your safety and happiness. You can violate them but you cannot negate them. Those who reject my laws assume that they can make the world anew in their own image, but they are wrong. As a result they walk in darkness, ignorant of me, and their own nature, and the world they live in. Happy are those who walk in the light, who follow my commandments because there is life in them. 

Are you grateful for the money you earn? You may say that this is unnecessary since it was earned rather than a gift. Yet there are others who do not have the opportunity to do what you do for the money you make and would like to. Are you grateful for this opportunity? My word poses the question, what do you have that you did not receive? The implied answer is nothing. Even if you put some effort into it you cannot claim total autonomy for the results. If you understand this you realize that an attitude of gratitude is appropriate for everything. Practice this and you will be both humble and joyful. 

Most countries offer special recognition to their soldiers who are injured in combat. This is a risk every soldier takes and it is appropriate to acknowledge their sacrifice. Casualties occur even for the side that is victorious. I have called you as a soldier in my army, and my word teaches you how to conduct the fight you are in. Do you take courage from my promise that you will win? Even so you can be wounded in the process. Do you understand that these are precious to me? If the nations of this world can recognize their wounded how much more can I honor the sacrifice of those who serve me and heal them. 

Do you want to be popular? Who doesn’t? There is a universal human longing for acceptance and validation by attention. Yet does it matter to you whom you are popular with? Again for most people this is a serious consideration. Wouldn’t you prefer to be popular with those who are themselves popular, attractive, wealthy, articulate, and funny? Would you be just as content to be sought out by those lacking these qualities? Yet as you follow me you may find that the poor are drawn to you because they are attracted to my life in you. You have my promise that inasmuch as you have done this unto the least of these, you have ministered unto me, and if you minister to those who cannot repay, great will be your reward in heaven. 

Have you heard it said that the death of a new idea is the statement, ‘we’ve never done it that way before’? You may have heard this applied to business and commerce. Do you think it applies to spiritual matter too? Yet your faith is eternal and based on unchanging principles. I am timeless and unchanging, but you have much to learn and grow. Do not look at the current rituals of your faith as the final authority. They are wineskins for wine, and new wine requires new wineskins. You need organization and structure, but these are a means to an end, and when you receive greater revelation about that end you should be ready to move on to forms suitable for it. 

You know that you are saved by grace through faith, not of works. Yet my word teaches you how to live and how to conduct yourself toward others. You are to be kind and generous and love your neighbor as yourself. How strong a correlation do you see between good behavior and professed belief? Do you know some believers who are poor examples and some with no profession who are thoughtful and kind? Perhaps you see some whose behavior is better than yours. Once you trust me for salvation there is no going back. Concerning your behavior there is only going forward. You are not called to judge people and assign them to eternal destinations. You can observe and emulate the best behavior you see, for in so doing you are following me. 

What do you think is the primary distinctive between one person and another? Isn’t it in the choices you make about how to spend your time? A journey is a series of steps leading to a destination. The cumulative effect of every course correction determines where you end up. In like manner your life is the cumulative effect of your choices about what to do. Good choices lead to more good alternatives and bad ones lead to fewer and worse. Don’t despair if you have made bad choices, for I came to offer redemption and make all things new. Still I want you to use every opportunity to redeem time for righteousness. 

Do you find that some people are good listeners and some are good speakers and some are neither? You can tell when people disengage from you, when they aren’t interested, when they are distracted. You crave the validation that comes from someone being attentive to you. Don’t you find that I am the best listener when you come to me in prayer? I am interested and attentive to you and never distracted. Perhaps you only know this by faith but you can know it without doubt. Are you willing to reverse the roles? For if you are attentive to me you will find that I am the best speaker as well. You have my promise that my sheep hear my voice and I have much to reveal to you by my Spirit. 

Do you strive for maturity, that you may put away childish things? Yet my word says that unless you be converted and become as little children you shall not enter the Kingdom of God. So children must have some desirable traits to make them fit for the Kingdom. Since everyone starts as a child it is implied that everyone had them at birth. What are they and how are they lost? Children acknowledge their dependence on adults. Whom do adults acknowledge their dependence on? I know the proud afar off, but I give grace to those who come to me acknowledging childlike dependence on me. 

My word teaches you to care for the widows and orphans. How many of these do you know and support? Do you think it is the job of the state welfare agencies to care for them? Do you know more single mothers than you do widows and orphans? You may argue that these and their children do not fit the strict definition of widows and orphans, and even that their situations came about because of the violation of my commandments. Does this make it easy for you to disregard or even judge them? But in some cases the women are blameless and the children did not select the conditions of their birth. Blessed are those who minister to those in need without judging how they came to be in need.