Dale Cresap's blog

Do you think of the precept that it is more blessed to give than to receive only in terms of money? You need money, but that is not all that you need. You have a deep inner longing to be understood. This is true of everyone you meet, and you see people go to great lengths in an effort to fulfill this desire. Don’t you get a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment when someone shows interest in you and comprehending your situation? If it is more blessed to give than to receive in a general sense than this applies to understanding too, and you can minister to others by connecting with them, showing an interest in their stories, and understanding them. 

Have you ever encountered people who were constantly criticizing themselves. Did this feel wrong to you and was it awkward to be around them? They may have intended this as a demonstration of humility, but this is false humility. Even in a negative sense, their remarks are all about them. True humility is not thinking little of yourself but thinking of yourself little. Have you encountered people who demonstrate true humility and found it easy to be around them because they make fewer references to themselves, either positive or negative? Learn from this that it isn’t all about you, one way or the other. 

Have you ever heard of someone referred to as an opportunist? This is usually used as a derogatory term to imply that someone will do whatever presents itself in the moment rather than following their principles. But is it a bad thing to respond to opportunities? You can and should do this without compromising your principles. I told my disciples that my time had not yet come, but that their time was always ready, and my word also commends you to be instant in season and out of season. Make it one of your principles to be always ready and aware, and prepared to respond to the opportunities that I present to you. 

There are many references in the Bible to knowing me. It says that my sheep know my voice. It also says be still and know that I am God. Have you tried this method? In some traditions silence is highly rated, but this is not as favored in others, and certainly not in your culture. Can you get away from the constant stream of messages, even in church? Your world seems structured and technology enables worldwide communication from anywhere in the world. Can you see that this is a mixed blessing? Those who desire silence and solitude must make a deliberate attempt to find it, but if you do I will meet you there. 

Do you have an appointment calendar? Many people use these to schedule and manage their time. Do you make appointments with me? I’m always available. It is beneficial for you to spend regular times with me, but have you ever had an encounter occur that you didn’t schedule, yet you realized that I had arranged it and was present in it? You may think of these as divine appointments. They may be among the most memorable and meaningful encounters of your life. Don’t keep your own appointment calendar so full and rigid that you miss your divine appointments. Be ready in season and out of season for your time is always ready. 

When you were first saved, did you think that I would protect you from all pain and suffering? How did that work out? Do you see your fellow believers going through the same difficulties and tribulations as others around you? You have a steadfast hope in me concerning ultimate reality and your final destiny, so you do not sorrow as those without hope. Yet I have not left you alone in this world. Even if you feel that I am not protecting you from anything, can you also say that I am sustaining you in everything? Even if you are accounted as sheep for the slaughter and your outward man perish, your inward man is renewed every day. 

Can you afford to take the risk of being safe? In many situations in life you will be faced with a choice, to follow your deep longings for destiny and purpose, or to follow the conventional expectations of your culture. The latter course is playing it safe, doing things that reasonable, proper, and respectable people do. Yet you were made for a destiny and you will not fulfill it if you only do what others expect. For it is your destiny, not theirs.

When you go to church, do you sing about me or to me? The fact that you refer to your meetings as worship services should suggest a preferred answer. A performance requires an audience, which may be few or many, and the connection between the performer and the audience may be intimate or distant. You refer to your faith as a relationship with me and I invite you to come to as close a level of intimacy as you can tolerate. Let your worship be an expression of this. The singing you do in church and elsewhere may be structured so that other people are listening, or not. In any case consider yourself to be performing for an audience of one. 

Do you think that you are living in the end times and wonder what will happen next as the human drama approaches the final act? There are an unlimited number of postulated scenarios, even among those who take my word seriously and try to discern future events from its prophetic passages. Do you find it useful to devote your time to the study of this subject? For I have work for you to do and development work to do in you. If you neglect these to study the end times will you be ready when it arrives? I ask you to trust me to care for you and direct you, to run the race set before you, to be prepared for my arrival even if you don’t now know how it will happen. 

Have you ever heard the statement that beauty is in the eye of the beholder? This is so common as  to be a cliché, usually spoken when one person finds something or someone attractive that others do not. Your culture thinks of beauty primarily in terms of human bodies, and has narrow criteria for the ideal. Are you willing to take a broader view, and revisit the ‘eye of the beholder’ concept from a greater perspective? How much beauty do you see? You live in a world that I created, and declared to be good. You are surrounded by beauty in everyday things. Do you see it? He who has eyes to see, let him see.