Dale Cresap's blog

Not everyone has the same amount of money, but everyone has the same amount of time. In the long run this is more important and a great measure of human equality. Yet even as some people spend their money wisely and some spend it foolishly whether they have little or much, so you can spend your allotment of time wisely or foolishly. Do you think of unproductive effort as wasting time? Another perspective on the same issue is not to give your heart to things of no value. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also and there will you spend the time you have. If you guard your heart and only give it to things of true and enduring value, then you will spend your time wisely and well. 

My word contrasts milk and meat as sources of nourishment. Milk is for babies and children, and meat is for those who are grown. What is the spiritual meaning of this distinction? Milk is food eaten by others for you. New Christians get their instruction from others so that they may learn the established doctrines of the faith. This is entirely proper and necessary and fits the natural parallel of milk for children. But the essence of the Christian faith is a relationship with me and I want you to move on to the point that you can relate to and hear from me yourself in addition to what you hear from me through others. 

Do you ask me for a revival in your area, an outpouring of my Spirit? I am eager to do this. Are you ready for it? My disciples considered some fields and how long it would be until they were ready for harvest. I told them that the fields were ready for harvest now, and to pray that the Lord of the harvest would send workers for the harvest. That means you. You may not see any visible evidence that I am about to move, but do you see that I am preparing you by stretching your comfort zone and enlarging your understanding? For I am indeed about to move and I am preparing you to work in my harvest. 

I told a parable about new wine and old wine, and new and old wineskins. You understand that the wineskin is a church, and that a new wineskin that is flexible is required for the new wine I am preparing. The church must be able to adapt to accommodate what I am doing. You also know that the church is not a building but is comprised of people. So this truth can be scaled to any level, and applies to individuals as well as organizations. It is not just a new organizational structure that is required for my next move. The attitudes and mindsets of individual believers must be changed for them to respond to and be involved in my next move. 

Do you have a viewpoint? It seems that everyone does have a view from a point, that is, the way things appear to them from where they are. Three-dimensional objects have a different appearance depending on where they are observed from, so other people see things differently than you do, and this principle of optics extends to abstracts concepts too, so disagreement and strife arise from differences of opinion. Spiritual vision releases you from this limitation, for in the spirit you are not limited to seeing from a single point. He who is spiritual judges all things because he can see them as they really are. Ask of me and I will open your eyes. 

Have you been born again? Have you been born again again? After you serve me for many years you may go through a further stage of development in which it seems that everything that has gone before was wasted. Don’t be discouraged, my word is full of examples of people who spent lengthy periods of preparation. This time was not wasted; for they went on to accomplish the tasks I set before them. My purposes do not fit the pattern of time, speed, and distance. Although your progress may be invisible it is necessary to get you ready for your destiny. Expect and welcome the opportunity to be born again again. 

Are you uncomfortable about the subject of circumcision? I’m not. My word makes it clear that it is no longer of a spiritual benefit, but it was my idea in the first place. This was a symbol of covenant and you should be willing to learn why I chose it before you reject it, for it is based on principles that are still valid. The act involved the cutting of flesh. Not just an incision, but a severing. Later scriptures go on to reveal the parallels and how the principle applies to you. They refer to the circumcision of your heart rather than your flesh. This is a deeper and more profound work and symbol of the new covenant, a spiritual severing of the flesh.

Have you ever been confused? I didn’t lead you here, because I am not the author of confusion. Have you ever been aware of the limitations of your current state of knowledge, and known that it was incomplete? You may have thought that this was confusion, but these are not the same thing. Confusion is moral ambiguity, cognitive dissonance, and mental conflict. This is not from me, but it is healthy to be aware that your current understanding is limited. This provides the incentive for you to continue to follow me, that you may move forward to fill in the gaps and continue to receive the greater revelation of myself that I always make available to you. 

You do not pay for your blessings, but do you see a connection between the donations you give to my work and the blessings you receive from me? Governments that allow donations to be tax deductible require that nothing be received in return but an intangible spiritual benefit. Even if these cannot be assigned a monetary value you can still assign a value to them. I told a parable about a pearl of great price hidden in a field. The man who found it kept it a secret and sold all he had to obtain what he could not really afford. I want you to value these intangible benefits so highly that you know you are getting a bargain. 

You know that the Bible is inspired revelation. Do you see revelation anywhere else? You should see it everywhere. You live in a world I created, and it testifies of me. To an even greater degree the lessons you learn from your own humanity testify of me because you are created in my image and this is true even of unbelievers, but you must discern this correctly, because you are able to deceive yourself in this regard. The lessons of nature and humanity properly understood will be in agreement with the lessons of scripture and doctrine. Blessed are those who accept the multitude of witnesses that testify of me.