Dale Cresap's blog

I created man in my image, and breathed life into him. So life and breath are closely related, and you understand this from a medical and physical perspective. Do you see that it is also true in other ways? Life and breath are not meant to be held, for to do so long enough results in death. The life in breath takes place in exchange – inhaling and exhaling. In like manner the life of the spirit takes place in giving and receiving. Your life does not consist in isolation, either from me or from others. All the members of my body receive life from the body as a whole, and in return do the part assigned to them. So it is with you as you function as a part of my body. 

Were you raised in the faith, and did you grow up thinking that the way you learned was the only way? When you were older and learned that other people did things differently did you feel that yours was the only right way? As you advanced in maturity were you able to see that some of the practices you were raised with were not optimal or superior? An even further advancement of spiritual maturity is to seek to combine the best of everything without becoming an opponent of what you leave behind. Cast you net wide, and sort out your catch on the deck, gathering the good into your own vessel. 

Do you think that your spiritual growth is complete? I said that those who hunger and thirst after righteousness were blessed, for they shall be filled. Hunger and thirst involve an awareness of need. I promise that if you seek you will find, but you have to know that you need more than you have to begin seeking. Have you ever read books or encountered people who referred to a more advanced level of spiritual progress than you experienced? Do you avoid them or seek them out? Your spiritual growth is facilitated by the awareness that you have further to go. Seek them out that you may hunger and thirst after righteousness and be filled.

Do you have a title? You normally think of this as something conferred by others in recognition of your office. Some of these are mentioned in the Bible and conferred by me. Some people think of their titles as status symbols but some take for themselves titles in a negative way, such as victim, adulterer, or addict. In this sense there is a personal identification with a besetting problem. I want you to know that I don’t see you that way even if that is how you see yourself. Those may be issues in need of resolution but even now I see you as the essence of your being created in my image and loved in a way that you don’t need titles, good or bad. 

You are at a certain stage in your spiritual journey. Can you see how far you have come? Do you, in humility, see how far you still have to go? The other people you meet are also at a particular stage in their spiritual journey, although early in the process they may not even see it as a journey. Schools understand the concept of learning progression by having grades and a curriculum in sequence. Good teachers will not try to prove how smart they are to their students, but will meet them where they are to move them forward. In like manner you honor the work I am doing in others and advance it by meeting them where they are rather than trying to force them to your level or prove yourself superior.   

Do you desire to grow in wisdom and understanding? Do you think this consists only of learning new things and making new connections? Have you executed this process with no errors to this point? That would make you a rare person. Who hasn’t accepted some misunderstandings as truth along the way? I want you to remain teachable. This involves a willingness to revisit things you have already learned. You may find that they need to be modified or released. Would this seem like losing ground to you rather than making progress? I tell you that it is progress to let go of things that are wrong. 

You know that I have many titles. Do you see me as the president of a large corporation? Part of the job of a business manager is to hire staff and assign them to the proper positions. A good manager will find people who are well-suited for the job in every way, including natural talent, skill, experience, character and temperament. Do you understand that I have a job for everyone in my Kingdom? Not all of them pay wages in the wealth of this world, but all have rewards in heaven. Submit your application and trust me to assign you a task for which I created you and prepared you for it is your destiny. 

Do you understand that I created the world, and man in my own image? This concept that was universally accepted for centuries has come under relentless attack for decades so that the only defenders are my followers. It is one thing to accept this as a doctrinal premise and another to walk in the reality of all it implies. You live in my world. When you open your eyes do you see my presence and fingerprints everywhere? More to the point, do you see a divine imprint in everyone you meet, regardless of their religious beliefs or complete lack thereof? You may think that the fall changed all the premises of creation, but it didn’t. 

Do you think of the Bible as words of life? Yet it contains some difficult passages. I spoke words that neither my friends or my enemies liked, about eating my flesh and drinking my blood. Even Peter was distressed, but he would not go away, for he affirmed that I spoke the words of life. Have you ever heard Christians using scripture to make proclamations against those who do not believe, declaring over them eternal judgment? That is not their job, for I also teach you not to say, even in your heart, who shall ascend into heaven, and who shall descend into hell. Don’t turn the words of life into words of death. 

Do you see your church as a Christian community? Does it consist of people you would hand-pick for companions? Perhaps they wouldn’t pick you either, and there is a purpose for this. In most areas of life you have the choice to associate with those of your own choosing. Family is an exception to this, and church can be depending on how you view it. You can think of examples of those who go from one church to another in an endless search for the right one. This is not my plan for you. Receive from me the wisdom that there is a benefit for you in belonging to a group that you didn’t choose, and realize that I hand-picked them for that purpose.