Dale Cresap's blog

Do you see any value in suffering in silence? You live in a culture with a bias for immediate complaint and resolution of anything unpleasant. My word says that those who do their alms before men to be seen of them have their reward, but those who do their alms in secret are see by their Father in heaven who rewards them openly. Do you see how this principle can be extended to comfort and sympathy? Most are not willing to suffer without complaint. They seek comfort from others and get it. Yet there is a special level of comfort that only the Comforter can provide. If you are willing to suffer in silence I can help you in ways your friends cannot. 

Have you heard it said that misery loves company? Have you seen this in action? Have you had others seek out your company so they could complain at length, refusing any attempt of yours to minister grace and joy, and trying to drag you down with them? Have you ever done this to someone else? They may say that they want comfort, but they refuse comfort. You do not minister life to them by agreeing with and facilitating this. I met people in desperate circumstances. Did I ever give in to pity and commiseration? Do not mistake these for compassion and mercy. I ministered life and redemption to those who desired it, and commissioned you to do the same in my name. 

Do you like to get gifts? Who doesn’t? You like some gifts more than others, but you accept them with the understanding that they are for you. The gifts I give are better than those from anyone else, but the gifts I give you are not for you. They are for others. The gifts I give are special abilities you may employ to serve others. My prophets speak to others rather than to themselves. They are my messengers, employing the gift I give them to relay my message to others. The same principle holds for other gifts I give to equip you for ministry. Have I not called you to lay down your life and be the servant of all? It is more blessed to give than to receive. You will find joy in exercising the gifts I give you to serve others. 

Do you consider the pursuit of happiness to be the highest goal? Consider my servant Paul. Would you consider him to be happy according to the commonly accepted definition? He led a life of affliction and torment. Yet would he have cast aside the burdens and sorrows he carried for me? He did not consider them worthy to compare to the glory that would be revealed in him. The concept of happiness that your culture seeks is shallow and not consistent with Biblical principles. Who would seek to lose their own life to save it? Yet if you lay down your life and pick up your cross and follow me you will have eternal life, treasure in heaven, and true happiness. 

Do you have questions about your faith? Were you taught that this is wrong; that accepting what you don’t understand is an essential aspect of faith? I would rather that you came to me with honest questions rather than pretend they don’t exist. I want you to understand the difference between asking in faith and asking in doubt. If you come as my adversary demanding that I prove myself you will not get satisfaction. Yet I have more to teach you and this is a process that involves questions and responses. Come to me believing and in a teachable attitude. Ask, seek, and knock and you will get answers. 

You live in a culture obsessed with superficial beauty. You know this is vain, yet beauty is a desirable quality that can run deeper than the surface. What characteristics do you find most desirable in others? Do you find anything less attractive than those for whom nothing has meaning except as it relates to them? No amount of surface beauty will overcome selfishness and self-absorption. On the other hand, is anything more attractive than a sense of unselfconscious grace? Even if you feel yourself to be average or even below in superficial beauty you can develop this more important and enduring form of attractiveness. 

You live in a culture that values freedom of speech. Do not assume from this that everyone’s words have equal value. The freedom to speak does not assure an audience. You practice this principle intuitively as a listener, seeking out words of wisdom and insight and avoiding idle chatter. At a meeting convened for a lecture or sermon the entire audience is silent and attentive to the one they have come to hear. Do you regard my words above those of any man or woman on earth? When you come to me be at least as attentive as you would to them, for I am in heaven, and you are on the earth. My disciples followed me because I had the words of life, and I still do. 

Do you understand that humility is an important Christian concept? Yet it has no meaning until after you have demonstrated a clearly superior performance. It is only then that you can acknowledge those who have contributed to your success, or give me glory saying a man can have nothing except he receive it from heaven. One who boasts of his own achievements is a braggart, and one who boasts having no achievements is a fool. Are you willing to acknowledge me in all your ways, and give me the glory due to me? If you have this attitude of humility then you are in a position for me to pour out my power through you, for I can trust you to handle the response properly. 

Do you assume that the world is malleable to conform to your preferences? You understand that natural laws like gravity work whether you like them or not, but do you assume that everything else is up for grabs? I have given commandments for your safety and happiness. You can violate them but you cannot negate them. Those who reject my laws assume that they can make the world anew in their own image, but they are wrong. As a result they walk in darkness, ignorant of me, and their own nature, and the world they live in. Happy are those who walk in the light, who follow my commandments because there is life in them. 

Are you grateful for the money you earn? You may say that this is unnecessary since it was earned rather than a gift. Yet there are others who do not have the opportunity to do what you do for the money you make and would like to. Are you grateful for this opportunity? My word poses the question, what do you have that you did not receive? The implied answer is nothing. Even if you put some effort into it you cannot claim total autonomy for the results. If you understand this you realize that an attitude of gratitude is appropriate for everything. Practice this and you will be both humble and joyful.