Dale Cresap's blog

How often do you marvel that you should be so highly favored by me? Is this a routine experience for you? If not, it isn’t because I have neglected to bless you. People have their favorites, and give them preferential treatment out of the limited resources they have. Necessity forces them to pick and choose and set priorities, but I face no such limitations. I can treat each one as my favorite, and I do. It is one thing to acknowledge this as a theological construct, and another to walk in the overwhelming awareness of it. I want you to know this by experience and rejoice and be grateful.

Do you see yourself as pilgrim on a sojourn? There is a Biblical basis for this image and it is an accurate description of a walk of faith. You can also see yourself as a member of a body. These are different images, but both are valid, and one does not contradict the other. Your sojourn should include travel on both paved and unpaved roads. There is value in making progress with others on established routes. Do you understand that there is also value in walking with me in solitude, and that you will not always travel with a crowd? I have a destination for you, and some of the roads on the way are not paved.
 

Has your decision to follow me resulted in your being misunderstood by those around you? I too was misunderstood, and told my followers to expect the same thing, since it follows logically. Did it come as a surprise when it was from those within your own church and faith tradition? Yet this happened to me too. My own received me not. Even so, you can’t build a life around being offended at being misunderstood, no matter who does it. I am calling you to continue to follow me, looking forward rather than looking back, and living a life of affirmation rather than reaction. Accept the consequences and choose not to be offended.

What is the biggest hindrance in your life? Most people would say it is a lack of money, but it is more likely to be fear. The way you view the world will affect your experience of it, and it is the fearful and unbelieving rather than the poor who are outside the Kingdom of God. Haven’t you observed this already, that those who face the world unafraid lead lives of richness and abundance whether they have much money or not? You do not know what the future holds, but even though you face it with uncertainty, you can also face it without fear, and take the actions you need to lead an abundant life. Love casts out fear.

Have you ever driven a hard bargain? Your system of a market economy leaves the door open for you to negotiate prices. Market conditions can influence prices. In particular, if the seller is in a difficult financial position and selling out of necessity it gives the buyer a stronger negotiating position for a lower price. Yet I declared the principle of not taking advantage of widows or others who were poor. There are conditions in which you should not push for the very lowest price or the hardest bargain you can get. Do you understand the importance of generosity? Do you understand that it can apply to transactions as well as donations?

I said, ‘let him who is without sin cast the first stone’ in response to a woman who was under judgment for adultery. No one did. Do you strive to be without sin yourself? This is an admirable goal. What is your motivation? To be able to cast stones at others? This would not be an admirable motivation. There is an unwritten law of justice that those who are themselves guilty are not eligible to stand in judgment. You should not use this precept to avoid accountability and correction that would be directed at you. There is also a higher principle demonstrated in being eligible to throw the first stone, and not throw it.

Do you look at the progress you have made in life as an achievement or a gift? The default answer for most people is that no one gave them anything; they worked hard for everything they have. Yet how hard would it be to find someone who worked harder and ended up with less? Your efforts would avail nothing were it not for the favor and blessing you receive from me, who sends sun and rain on the just and on the unjust. I want to open heaven to pour out blessings on you, but I don’t want to ruin you. If you look at everything in your life as a gift from me then you will be able to receive it with gratitude and humility. 

How do you store your household goods and personal effects? People typically use boxes to organize their stuff and reduce clutter. How do you hold your truth? In a literal sense it doesn’t fit in a box, but this is useful as a figure of speech for the same reasons of organization and reducing clutter. How big is your truth box? Is it full or is there enough room in it to store truth you have not yet encountered? It is good to have a larger box than necessary for the current contents, for it allows room for growth. This is a case where bigger is better, but do you understand that I won’t fit in your truth box?

I said that without me you can do nothing. This is a very broad statement with far-reaching implications. How far are you willing to go with it? If, as I also said, in me all things consist and have their being, then I am involved in everything. Do you struggle with this concept with regard to believers, examining your own life and those of others, and dividing things into categories such as things I am involved in and things I am not? Do you struggle with it to an even greater degree when you consider how it may be applied to unbelievers who do not acknowledge me or make any conscious effort to please me? Yet the statement is given as an absolute. What if it were true?

Is it possible for something to be large on the inside and small on the outside? This seems like a  contradiction in terms. My word says that you have an ‘inner man’ and an ‘outer man’. It is inevitable that your outer man is perishing. It is desirable that your inner man grow and enlarge. Have you met people who acquire greater (non-material) substance as they get older? It is tragic if this does not occur, but this spiritual growth is not inevitable. You have no choice in physical decline. You do have a choice to seek the Kingdom of God. Then you can be large on the inside even as you diminish on the outside.