Dale Cresap's blog

Do you value your liberty over any of your possessions? It is my gift to you, and I tell you to stand fast in it. Men can take it from you by force, but it is more common to give it away voluntarily. I warned you against being entangled in the yoke of bondage. The nobility of liberty depends on how you exercise it. For many it is an open door to self-indulgence and sin. There is no honor in this. I value your liberty so highly that I will not close the door even if you walk the path of self-destruction. Yet I also place before you an open door that leads to life. I made an enormous sacrifice to open this door for you. Exercise your liberty to walk through it and keep walking with me.

Do you allow just enough time to travel from your location to your destination to arrive in time? This is the most efficient use of your time. Yet I may have opportunities for you along the way that you did not expect. Will you have enough time to respond to them? I told a story of a Samaritan who had an unexpected delay while he was traveling. He was commended for his kindness, but it cost him both time and money. This principle still applies even though the modes of transportation have changed. Much of my plan for you occurs in ways you did not anticipate while you are on the way. Don’t be in such a hurry that you can’t respond. 

Do you keep your valuables secured against theft and insure them against loss? What do you have that is most valuable? I taught my followers to lay up treasure in heaven where thieves could not break in and steal, and moth and rust could not corrupt. Do you realize that even now the things that are most valuable to you are inherent within you rather than material objects to be secured? Your education both formal and by experience is irreplaceable, but it can’t be taken from you. Even my material provisions for you cannot be compared to the things you have learned by walking with me and the resulting transformation. 

Different countries have different forms of government and different titles for the head of state. In many countries this is a prime minister. My realm is a kingdom of which I am king, but I am also the prime minister of heaven. A minister is one who serves the needs of others. Did I not instruct my disciples about offices and titles that he who would be great among you should be as one who serves, even as the Son of Man came not be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many? So I am prime minister because I am first among the servants, but you can seek to follow me as second among the servants. 

Do you think of fear as something that is forced upon you by external circumstances? My word teaches against fear and says the fearful and unbelieving are outside my Kingdom. It implies that fear is a choice and a decision rather than a response to a stimulus. Everyone faces some uncertain circumstances, and some are fearful even when there is no threat, and others have peace when facing open hostility and adversity. Recognize that your fears originate within you. This puts you in a position to understand them and deal with them effectively. Do you think that strength and security will triumph over fear? I tell you that love casts out fear. 

It was said of me that I was hated without a cause. I did not come to harm, but my presence provoked others to put me to death. This response defies conventional logic, but have you ever felt threatened by someone who would not harm you? Have you ever felt jealous or insecure around those of superior skill and talent or other attributes even if they were of innocent intent toward you? This response is more telling about you than it is of them. It manifests a latent jealousy you may have been unaware of. Think of it as conviction to repentance that you may decrease that I may increase.

This is my will for you that you sin not. Christians take this commandment seriously. They strive not to sin and have a means for redemption available to them when they do. Yet your life is not defined by what you do not do. The abundant life I have set before you is one of rich complexity and detail. Sin will keep you from it, but it is not defined by the absence of sin. Therefore do not pride yourself on what you abstain from. Seek rather to stand in liberty from sin that you may be free to pursue every opportunity I present you. Once your name is written in my Book of Life keep yourself pure that you may be a vessel of honor, available for every good work.

Do you love a challenge? Even if you don’t, you see people who do, and those who put themselves in situations that will require much of them are widely admired for doing great things with limited resources. Do you think that I like a challenge? I delight to fill ordinary things and situations with divine power. With my help Moses used a wooden staff to deliver a nation and a lunch for a small boy fed a multitude. But the challenges I really seek out are people. You know some people who are so far from me that it seems impossible that they would be saved. I go after them with all the resources of time and eternity and I invite you to be a part of the process.

Is your presentation of the gospel a closely structured argument starting at the beginning? That may be necessary for atheists, but only for them. Most people you meet already have some sense of spirituality and the eternal, even if it is not a saving faith. You honor them and the progress they have already made by starting there rather than establishing my existence at square one. Approach this task with the conviction that I can give you something for everyone, from the most militant atheist to the most mature devout believer. If you do not find it already within you then ask me for it and I will give it to you on the spot.

Do you think of anger as a sin? But my word says be angry and sin not. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath. Do you think that resentment is more acceptable than anger because it is more subtle? Yet resentment is anger accumulated over time. It is internalized and grown cold and hard, going hand in hand with bitterness. It is far easier to deal with anger in the day it occurs. Be honest with yourself to recognize the things that bother you for what they really are. Seek to resolve conflicts but realize that some will remain. Bring those to me that you may grow in grace and godliness rather than resentment and bitterness.