Dale Cresap's blog

I tell you to love your enemies. Do you? Is this concept so far removed from your familiar life experience that you see this as an abstraction? How can you make it concrete? Do you view everyone as made in my image? If so then there is an essential human dignity that you can grant to everyone, no matter how different they are from you in the usual dimensions you use to make distinctions such as race, national origin, education, income level, political affiliation, and even belief systems. Is your awareness of my image in your enemies strong enough to overcome these things?

What do you identify with? You can look at people who identify with their status symbols, such as clothes, cars, and houses, and realize that these are a shallow basis for identity. Do you look at your life accomplishments such as academic credentials, a successful career, or a good reputation and think that these provide a stronger basis for identity? Do you look at the spiritual gifts that you receive from me and consider them to be even more intrinsic to your being?

You understand my redemptive purposes. What about yours? Does this seem like an odd question? You understand that my redemptive acts were unique to me. It is not necessary or possible for you to duplicate them. But you are called to follow me. If my purpose was redemption, then shouldn’t you look for ways to express redemptive purpose also? You have been given the Great Commission so you identify evangelical work in this way, and rightly so. Is it limited to that? Can you think of any other ways in which you can manifest redemptive purpose? If you ask me I will show you how.

Do you look for divine intent in the events of your life? Do you find it? Is it easier to find when things are going your way and you get what you want? What about other times? Can you even now look back and see the beneficial effects of your experiences that were painful and difficult? Joseph was treated badly by his brothers, but it put him in a position to rescue them. He responded without bitterness and declared that what his brothers meant for evil God meant for good.

Has your name ever appeared in a book? Would you like it to? Only a small percentage of people can claim this. Yet they that feared the Lord spoke often to one another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and thought upon his name. And they shall be mine in the day when I make up my special treasure, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. So would you like to have your name appear in a book? This is the one you want to be in, and you can.

Have you ever run laps? This is a common way to exercise in a limited area, but it doesn’t lend itself to getting to a destination. In a larger sense, does it feel as if you are running laps in life, dealing with the same issues in the same way and going around in circles, making no progress? Is this a source of frustration and discouragement? There is another way to approach this. In the world of mathematics some problems are solved by successive approximations.

I promised my followers an abundant life. Do you see your life as more abundant or more mundane? Do you spend most of your time in tedious routines? Does this seem inevitable from the demands and commitments of life? You may benefit by learning that abundance is more than money, and also more than the items on your list of tasks to accomplish. How do you see the world? Do you live in an enchanted world saturated with spiritual significance? A world where everything belongs and every gesture is filled with meaning and purpose?

Do you recall my statements that many would come in my name that I didn’t send? And that ye shall know them by their fruits? Are you a victim of spiritual abuse, or do you know people who are? Do they (or you) attribute this to me or to the people who did this acting in my name? This is an important difference, for many have rejected me for crimes I did not commit, and it is true that there are those because of whom the way of truth is evil spoken of. Can you discern the difference between those whom I sent and those I did not even though both go by my name and claim my authority?

Have you been through a quantum change in life? This is a term from physics, but it can be applicable to human experience as well. Most growth in nature, including human growth, is gradual and continuous. Yet certain events can be transformative, and you refer to these as defining moments. They are abrupt transitions that leave you forever changed. Consider the experiences of Jacob with his heavenly vision, Moses with the burning bush, and Paul on the road to Damascus. Have you ever had such an experience? If so, did you recognize it as an encounter with me?

Do you have any religious affectations? These are mannerisms that you may acquire to display your Christian identity. Does this seem innocent enough and even desirable? Yet when you consider the things that I criticized in relation to all the things that I could have criticized, religious affectations rank very highly. Consider my remarks to the Pharisees about the things they did for pretense. I made a strong distinction between things done for outward appearance to be seen of men and things done in secret to please your Father in heaven. This distinction is just as valid today.