Dale Cresap's blog

Do you understand what is involved in being a good host? You extend courtesy to those who come to see you, anticipating their needs and making them feel at home. Are you willing to apply this principle to yourself? For I said that my kingdom is within you and you accept it as a matter of basic theology that I dwell within you. I also describe your body as my temple. So do you see yourself as being a host to me? Can you apply the same principles of hosting a guest in your home to hosting my presence dwelling within you? If you extend the same courtesy, attention and respect I will feel at home within you. 

I promised abundant life to those who would come to me. What is your idea of abundance? For some people abundance means more money to buy more stuff. Yet they can still lead shallow and deprived lives. Does your church offer worship and a Bible study? Those can be aspects of abundance, but many people look for something more. Do you feel a longing for encounter and engagement? I wired you for relationship, and only I can offer it to you at the deepest level, that you may know as you are known. Come to me for this fulfillment and you will find more abundance in encounter and engagement with others. 

What do you think is the greatest problem facing society? Most people will respond with something political, economic, or environmental, but these are more visible manifestations of problems with deeper roots. The underlying problems are spiritual. They arise from alienation. Believers may think of this as alienation from God, and this is true, but in a more general sense people are alienated from their own true identity and being, and this can occur without their awareness of it. You won’t solve this problem with political or economic means. If everyone had a heart transformation, how many visible problems would remain?

Do you see justice and mercy as opposing concepts? When Joseph found out that Mary was with child, and not by him, he resolved to put her away privately to spare her from public scorn. Does this sound like an act of justice or mercy? Yet my word says he did it because he was a just man. Have you ever faced an internal conflict in a situation in which you desired to be both just and merciful? It is admirable for you to desire both and not implement one without consideration for the other. The longer you follow me the more you will be able to have both, for in me mercy and justice are met together. 

Do you like road trips? They can be monotonous miles or adventures depending on where you are going and what happens on the way. My word describes some notable road trips including the road to Damascus and the road to Emmaus. The travelers had a destination in mind but had some unexpected adventures along the way. These turned out to be more important than the places they were going. Are you so fixed on your destination that you miss the opportunities that present themselves in the moment? Even if you have goals and work toward them your life is lived in the present moment which is the only time you can respond to opportunities you encounter.

Do you see the Bible as a mirror? When you look at it do you see a reflection of yourself? Yet if you only see things that reassure you that you are right and validate your current status, how will you grow? Familiarity breeds complacency. If the Bible doesn’t shock and challenge you then try reading it again as for the first time. Put yourself in the place of the characters, knowing what they knew at the time, and consider how you would respond. Have you heard of people who were dramatically impacted by their first encounter with scripture? I want to provide that same experience to you who know it well. 

My word tells you that now you see in a glass darkly, but then face to face. This implies that there is a change coming in the way you see. Do you think this applies only to the way you see me? For the material world is visible to you, but I am not, at least not now. Yet have you ever met people and had the image you present interact with the image they present? This is hardly an authentic encounter. And so seeing in a glass darkly is not just the way you perceive the heavenly realm; it is the way you perceive everything. Yet even in this world he who is spiritual judges all things, and you can move toward seeing all things face to face. 

Do you find comfort in reassurance? Do you need more reassurance that you are right, or that I love you? There is comfort in being vindicated in your position, but I have more to teach you, and if you are too strongly attached to what you already know, then you hinder your ability to move into greater revelation. How often in my word did I commend people for their correct beliefs? Yet my love for you is steadfast and enduring. It will sustain you through the process of being transformed into my likeness. If you understand this you will be able to release your need for personal validation and abide in me. 

My word says that now you see in a glass darkly, but then you will see face to face. Do you assume that this statement applies only to the spiritual realm, which is veiled and invisible to you? Do you think your vision is perfectly clear in this material realm? Would you know if it were not? You are subject to assumptions, biases, distractions, prejudices and many other things that distort your vision. As a result there can be a large difference between your perception and reality of which you are usually unaware. So you see in a glass darkly even in this realm, but he who is spiritual judges all things and sees things clearly face to face in this world and the world to come. 

Have you ever visited the places that I walked? Do you wish you had lived when I did on earth? Do you realize that only a handful of people recognized me for who I was during my life on earth? Do you think you would have been one of  them? Because most did not. Yet you have my promise that I am with you always. So you have my presence with you in every moment and in every encounter. And so I told my followers not to run around here and there chasing down reports of my appearing. For I told them that the Kingdom of God is within you. Blessed are those who understand this and live their lives accordingly.