Dale Cresap's blog

My word mentions a few titles and positions associated with serving me. Do you hold one of these? If so, wear it lightly. These positions are only recognized by believers, and normally only within a local assembly. If you have ever seen someone insisting that their title be recognized outside their sphere of influence did it seem grasping and ungracious? All of my children are called to be servants. I led by teaching and by example not to seek dominion over others, but that he who would desire to be great in my Kingdom should do so by being the servant of all.

Do you expect sympathy and special treatment during your times of difficulty? I washed my disciple’s feet just before I died. Do you find it easier to be thoughtful and considerate to others when everything is serene in your own life and your concerns are in the background? It is a higher test of your character to observe how you attend to the needs of others while you have concerns of your own. If you give your troubles free reign they will enlarge to crowd out your usefulness to others, and even to yourself. This distorts your perspective and interferes with your vision. Address yourself to the needs of other people and your own will diminish. 

My apostle Paul had a thorn in his flesh in a figurative sense, something that greatly troubled him, and he asked me repeatedly to remove it, yet I refused. I told him my grace was sufficient for him, and he accepted this. Now he has gone to his eternal reward. How do you think he views it in hindsight? He had asked me to remove it. Do you think he views my dealings with him as good except for this refusal? You can be confident he does not, because he came to a place of understanding and acceptance even while he was on the earth. One day you too will have an eternal perspective and see how my goodness was manifested in everything you experienced. Blessed are those who understand this now. 

Do you know people who profess a need for emotional healing? Do they seem to make it the focus of their life, reading books, going to conferences, trying one approach after another without success? Emotional healing is a valid concept but this is not a valid approach for obtaining it. My word does not support this level of introspection and self-absorption. It teaches you to lay down your life and pick up your cross, to esteem others better than yourself, that it is better to give than to receive - in so many ways. If you follow this Biblical instruction you will receive this healing you desire in due course as an indirect benefit. 

Have you heard that the streets of heaven are paved with gold? My word doesn’t give a complete description of heaven, but it does describe a place of magnificent wealth and beauty. Do you find this to be the most appealing aspect? For it also is a place with the tree of life and the waters of life. You have counterparts for wealth in your world, but you do not have counterparts for these. My word says that eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor heart imagined the things that I have prepared for those who love me, but the closer you walk with me the more you will imagine them in spiritual rather than material terms. 

Have you heard that 90% of life is just showing up? There is an element of truth to this, and the actual percentage may be higher. Do you desire spiritual gifts that you may prophesy or minister in some other way to be a great blessing to my people? Do you seek out places and situations where there are opportunities to do these things? The first word in the great commission is ‘go’. Being in the right place is the first prerequisite. If you show up in faith with eagerness and expectation I will meet you there. Step out and you will be amazed at how easy it is to do the works of God. 

Your culture has an obsession with beauty. It is highly regarded and everyone wants to present themselves as attractive, even if only to obtain the benefits from a favorable superficial appearance. Have you heard it said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder? Some people have the ability to see beauty where others cannot. This is a rare gift that they can share with others to enable them to see more than surface beauty. I make all things beautiful in their time. You can minister life in my name by seeing spiritual beauty at a deeper level than others, and declaring it and bringing it forth. 

Can you make a clear distinction between your real identity and the image you present? You may feel like being selfish and irresponsible but when the time comes to act you do what you know you should instead of casting off restraint. Do you think that your first impulses are the ‘real’ you and that you are being false by not following them? Would being more sinful make you more honest? I told of a son who said he would do his father’s will but didn’t, and his brother who said he would not, but repented and did it anyhow. Was he being dishonest in doing his father’s will? What you do is a more accurate indicator of who you are than what you feel, even if you have internal struggles. 

I created the world out of nothing but you may observe that since then I usually start with something, no matter how small and insignificant. I have performed great miracles using a few loaves and fishes, the jawbone of an ass, or a wooden rod. I have commissioned you to present the gospel to every creature. Do you see how the same principle applies here? You may think the most difficult challenge in witnessing is the conversion of a hard core atheist, but how many of those do you meet? Paul preached in a city with an idol to the unknown God. He used this as a starting point to declare the gospel. If you lack wisdom to win souls ask of me and I will give you a point of entry from which to share my plan of salvation. 

Did you come to me thinking that I would give you an easy life? Did you find you were mistaken about that? Yet I do give you a life with meaning and purpose. Can you see that this is better? Who wouldn’t want an easy life? Yet how many people do you know who can earn a living without maximum exertion, have some free time in which to enjoy luxuries, and do not face imminent war or plague that nevertheless are forlorn and uneasy because they can’t place their own lives in a greater context of meaning? Do you find peace in knowing that I provide for you? Yet there is an even more basic reality in the lives of my children, that I give them an identity, an eternal perspective and foundation of purpose, meaning, and destiny.