Dale Cresap's blog

Do you like the verses in the Bible that promise that you shall have whatsoever you ask for in prayer? Do you prefer these to the verses that tell you to die daily, or to lay down your life, and pick up your cross, and follow me? This is understandable from an untransformed perspective, but these verses are taken from the same Bible and are part of the same equation. I promise you life, but death is part of the process. I faced death before resurrection and set forth an example for my followers. Even baptism is a ritual death. Do you understand that you have to die before you die so you can live before you die?

Do you love everyone? Do you find it easier to love those who are attractive, kind, generous, and agreeable; in particular that they agree with you? I said that even the gentiles – those outside the faith – love those who love them. So the default position for love is to extend it as a reward to those who are worthy to receive it according to your judgment. But I taught my followers to love everyone, which is in conflict with this version of love. Here it is not about them but about you. Being transformed into my likeness means being transformed to make love a characteristic of your being.

Do you spend time waiting on me? Have you done everything I have asked of you to this point? If not, it would be more accurate to say that I am waiting on you than that you are waiting on me. Do you see that it has to be one or the other? It can’t work both ways. If you have done all that I have revealed to you then you can come to me for further instructions. Until then, continue to move forward according to your current orders. You are free to sit at my feet and hear my word at any time. Do not confuse this with asking for new direction if you haven’t already carried out the direction you have.

Do you see your life as a journey? Journeys can be lengthy and strenuous and involve obstacles along the way. What do you see as the greatest hindrance to your further progress? Could it be the progress you have already made? This is not an external obstacle, but one you face within. You are further along than when you began. Are you content to remain where you are now? I called you to follow me. This is a permanent condition and does not end when you have made some progress. Don’t let the pleasant things you have obtained so far cause you to settle and remain here. Keep pressing in and you will find there is so much more awaiting you.

How do you view the process of salvation? Do you view it as doing me a great favor in giving me your heart? Or did I do a favor for you? Who would die in the place of someone else? Certainly this is the ultimate gesture of friendship. Greater love has no man than this. You may think of rare situations in which someone of the highest character would die for someone else who is also of the highest character. But I died for you while you were still a sinner, because you needed a savior. I did this freely and without regrets, but let there be no question about who was doing a favor for whom.

Do you think that every prayer is answered? Have you heard of blessings in disguise? When you pray do you have an idea in mind as to what the answer will look like? But I am not constrained to answer according to your preconceptions. If the events that follow do not fit your template, do you assume that your prayer was rejected? I am also free to answer according to my own schedule. But here is another possibility to consider. Examine the events that occurred after your prayer and consider whether I was using them to reply to you. Enlarge your field of vision. You may already have my answer in your hand.

Have you ever needed to be rescued? Do you think of this as being cast adrift on a deserted island or injured climbing a mountain or in an airplane crash? Not all rescue situations are so dramatic. Who has not experienced a vehicle breakdown that required assistance? But there are rescue situations that are even more commonplace. How many people lead lives of desperation, trapped by habits, thought patterns, or circumstances they cannot control? Yet help is available in these situations too. Can you see these needs in others and offer what they need? The more difficult thing is to see the need in yourself and issue the cry for help.

Do you have a heartbreaking story from your own life? Do you tell it to everyone you meet? Most people have such a story, and most people do not tell it to everyone. There are good reasons for not doing so, but the pain and sorrow you feel are just as real whether you share them widely or not. Can you do the math in your head and see the logical inference? It is safe to assume that the other people you meet are going through trials of their own even if they don’t share them with you. This is all the more reason to be kind to everyone you meet. You never know who will need an extra measure of it.

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.