Dale Cresap's blog

Do you crave acceptance and want people to accept you just the way you are? Do you accept yourself just the way you are? I may be the only one who truly accepts you in your current state, and yet my call to you is to be transformed into my image and likeness. This is not one of your superficial self-improvement projects. It is a change in your very nature and being, deep and profound. When you consent to this work taking place in you, you can expect opposition from your friends, family, and church, as if you violated some social contract that bound you together. But still my Spirit calls you to transformation. 

Have you met people who define themselves by what they are opposed to? Did you enjoy the experience? This is commonplace among political partisans on both the left and the right, and you expect it from atheists. Have you seen the same thing in Christians? This should not be. My people should have a positive and proactive outlook on life rather than a reactive one. They are to be pro-life in a way that includes more than opposition to abortion. They are to be living expressions of love, letting their light shine before men that they may glorify me. There are things to oppose, but these are the lesser part within the framework of a life of affirmation. 

Do you think of the gospel message as radical or conventional? It started out as radical and was viewed by the religious establishment of the day as a dangerous threat. Over the passage of time it has become the majority faith in some places, so that the current religious establishment there is Christian. Does this make a radical message conventional? There is a risk that widespread cultural acceptance will water down the radical aspects of my message and dull its cutting edge. I want your eyes to remain open to see that no matter how well accepted the gospel message is by you and those around you that it still calls you to radical transformation. 

Do you think you are ready for anything? If you do then you are wrong. I was in constant contact with my disciples for three years and even then I said that I had more to teach them, but they could not bear it now. Have you ever encountered spiritual truth that was incomprehensible, and only understood it after you had walked through it with me? This is an ongoing process. When you are ready you will be able to understand the next lesson. It is helpful for you to see this so you can comprehend the big picture of growth. Only a fool thinks the process has been completed in him. Trust me to prepare you and reveal things when the time is right. 

Are you waiting for favorable circumstances to align before you move into a place of serving me effectively? Perhaps you think that when you finish school or another project, or have the right job, or have loans paid off then you will be in a position to serve me. Don’t wait. It is true that certain goals are worthwhile, but your service to me should not be contingent on them. Conditions will never be perfect according to your understanding, but they are good enough for me right now. I told my disciples that my time had not yet come, but theirs was always ready. This same principle applies to you. 

Do you think of wilderness in a positive or negative way? Today it is seen as a place of beauty and solitude for recreation. In ancient times it was seen as a desolate place with no resources for life. Even today, most people who visit the wilderness do not live there. I had my own experience in the wilderness and it was not a vacation for me. It was a time of testing during which I fasted for 40 days. Yet this was part of my Father’s plan, for it was the Spirit that led me into the wilderness. If you follow me you will go through wilderness experiences of your own. Though they may seem like desolate places they can be positive experiences if you know I am leading you there. 

Are you under financial pressure? Isn’t it delightful to get a large amount of money unexpectedly? If this happens to you, what do you do with it? If your desires exceed your resources at your current level, are you prone to take the windfall and buy things you don’t need, leaving you under just as much financial pressure with more stuff? My word counsels you that when riches increase not to set your heart upon them, and teaches you about contentment. If your current resources are meeting your needs, then you are in a position to make wise use of any additional money you receive. 

Do I seem far away from you? You take it as a settled matter of theology that I am omnipresent and with you always even if you are not aware of me. Does your world consist primarily of concrete, glass, steel, and plastic? These are not evil things, but perhaps your awareness of me would improve if you sought out opportunities to visit the world of trees and grass. There is truth that is more obvious during a walk in the woods. I can hear you wherever you speak. Do you hear me equally well in all places? If not then you should seek out the places where you hear me best and spend time there. 

Do you see yourself as being on a spiritual journey? This is the normal state for everyone who follows me. So on this journey you have the company of all your fellow believers, and finding fellow travelers on your way is pure delight. Yet there is another sense in which you must take this journey alone. That is that you can’t tag along on someone else’s journey of faith. I call you to follow me and not someone else. In like manner don’t expect anyone else to follow you. I have mapped out a path and rate for you that do not coincide exactly with the path for anyone else. Only you can fulfill the destiny I have set before you. 

Have you noticed that people with mental illnesses are treated as outcasts in ways that cancer and heart disease victims are not? Why should this ailment be a completely separate category from others? Your culture elevates reason above other things and considers it central to identity in a way that physical wellbeing is not. Yet this understanding of identity is not consistent with my word. Your true identity is that I created you in my image, not in your ability to reason. Therefore you should not use that as a basis for rejecting anyone, but it goes beyond that. Understanding this will help you know who you are as well.