Dale Cresap's blog

Daily Devotional Blog

Do you think the primary consideration of the Christian life is deciding who is saved? The Bible points the way to salvation, but it also says, do not say, even in your heart, who shall ascend into heaven, and who shall descend into hell. Salvation is important, but it is not your job to decide who is in and who is out. The Bible also speaks of transformation. Can you conceive of people being saved but not transformed? Conventional Christian thought is that salvation is an event and transformation is a process. Should you judge people by their transformation? You are not to judge at all, but the Bible does also say, you shall know them by their fruits. 

Daily Journaling Devotional

My law was originally written on tablets of stone, but I spoke of a time when they would be written on the hearts of my people. Stone has given way to paper for the written word, and now you can read the same words as an electronic image, but do you see that the same principle still applies? Modern technology has not changed it. Do you believe in the existence of eternal truth? Does it amaze you that it can be captured on paper? Have you internalized it so  that it lives within you? The word that was from the beginning, which dwells in you, is eternal and would endure even if the book were absent. 

Daily Journaling Devotional

I told the devil that man does not live by bread alone. Do you remember the rest of the passage? If you do without food long enough you will be hungry, but there are types of hunger that food will not satisfy. The argument concerning bread can be extended to all material things, and you do not live by them alone either. The rest of the passage is: but by every word that proceeds from God. You live in a material world. Can you really be satisfied by something so abstract? I know your needs, and that you cannot live without bread. Do you know and seek to satisfy your spiritual cravings?

Daily Journaling Devotional

Do you consider yourself to be well-informed? You have information at your fingertips for current events from around the world. Do you have a larger context into which to place this news? The people who report it pretend that everything they say is important, but is it really? This is the truth of the moment, as opposed to timeless truth. Have you noticed that enduring concepts from old books, including the Bible, remain universally applicable regardless of time and location? It is good for you to know the times and seasons in which you live. It is even better to be grounded in timeless truth which will make you even better informed. 

Daily Journaling Devotional

Daily Devotional Journal

Daily Devotional Journal

Do you like getting your own way? Doesn’t everyone? But do you realize that getting everything you wanted would ruin you? You refer to those who get everything they want without effort as spoiled, and this is a good description. You can point to verses in the Bible that say you can have anything you want. Are you going to hold me to this or would you rather defer to my wisdom in directing your life? It is not within a man to direct his own steps. My word teaches you not to think that your trials are strange intruders, but to welcome them as friends. Do you have enough wisdom and discernment to see them as such? 

Do you like getting Christmas presents? The wrapping and waiting add the anticipation of a reward. Do you like getting Christmas presence? This is something you can give and receive without wrapping and waiting. It is the ultimate gift of yourself to be fully present with someone else. It is rare even for those who are frequently in close proximity to one another. For those who hunger after and follow me, my presence is highly rated. Can you imagine any material thing that is better than this connection? I speak of the ultimate reality as beholding me face to face and knowing as you are known. You don’t have to wait till you die to experience this, and you don’t even have to wait until Christmas. 

Daily Journaling devotional

Have you ever looked for something? This term covers a wide range of activities. Looking for your car keys is not the same as looking for a job. I promised that he who seeks would find, and more to the point, that he who seeks me would find me. Yet the search for me that I invite you to is not like searching for your car keys that may be found in a moment, or a job search that has a clear and definite end. I am eager to be found by you and will respond whenever you turn to me. Yet your search for me should still be considered the goal of a lifetime. You will find that in the process of the search that your life is transformed. 

Daily Journaling Devotional

Have you heard of anything and everything described as ‘awesome’? Overuse and familiarity diminish the real meaning of this word. If you use it for every passing fancy then what term would you use for things that really are awesome? So what should you use it for? Are you aware of how much I love you and how extravagantly I manifest that love through grace? These are not rare and isolated occasions, but surround you continually. Yet you are only aware of them if you have eyes to see. Do you see me ‘spilling the whole bucket’ of grace on you every day? The songwriter wrote of amazing grace. You could as easily say awesome grace.