Dale Cresap's blog

My people understand that they have an adversary and when they are assailed by fear and doubt they recognize it as an attack from their enemy. These are often entirely within their minds but they are real for those who experience them. You can also be attacked in the form of temptation. This is something attractive rather than repulsive. It is even more dangerous because it is something you are drawn to instead of something you are eager to fight. Yet it comes from the same enemy. I want you to be like Moses who refused the pleasures of sin for a season that he might obtain a better resurrection. 

You are familiar with the Bible story of the prodigal son. He left home and in the end he returned home. Do you conclude from this that everything was restored the way it was in the beginning? Yet everything had changed even though the characters in the story were back in the same places and relationships at the end. Do you think the son’s maturity had improved? Do you think that he saw both himself and his father in a different light? It is the older brother who appears not to have learned anything. Are you frustrated by seeing little change in the circumstances of your life? My Kingdom is within you and so is my work. I can transform you in your current conditions. 

You know you need to repent of your own sins. Have you ever felt the need to repent of someone else’s? Isaiah came before me and acknowledged that he was a man of unclean lips and lived among a people of unclean lips. I accepted his repentance on behalf of his people. If you understand that in Adam all have sinned then you know that all humanity is tainted by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Have you ever repented specifically for this? The resulting problems may not be obvious because they apply universally rather than by contrast between individuals. Yet if you have eyes to see that you may turn from this I will deliver you into life. 

Have you heard jokes about those who want patience right now? You know that patience is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. It takes time to grow. Procrastination is not a fruit of the Holy Spirit, but many people practice it and mistake the one for the other. Are you frustrated by the slow pace of circumstances beyond your control? This calls for patience to stay diligent and focused even though you have to wait for results. If you are slack concerning things you do have control over it is procrastination rather than patience. I want you to act with all diligence to perform everything that I have commanded you even while you patiently wait for other things to come about. 

You live in a culture obsessed with youth. The only effects attributed to advancing age are negative in reference to declining abilities of every type. My word does not give this perspective. Your life is an opportunity for spiritual growth. This is not a predictable progression as with so many physical and mental abilities. Spiritual maturity can be found in the young, but this is rare. Blessed are those who make it their goal. It doesn’t happen automatically, and you can observe the tragedy of the elderly who decline in every way including this one. It is a characteristic highly valued in my Kingdom, and it is a capacity that does not diminish with age. 

Have you heard of expanded consciousness? This phrase came into general use several decades ago in reference to drugs and alternative lifestyles. Expanded consciousness is a valid concept but these are counterfeit forms of it. Behold I have given you the promise that if you abide in me and my word abides in you, you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. I promised to send the Comforter to lead you into all truth. If you respond and pursue this you will be spiritual and judge all things, and in that day you will ask me nothing for you shall be enlightened and have true expanded consciousness. 

My word speaks of several who have departed from familiar surroundings to go on a spiritual journey of discovery. Father Abraham is a prime example. You see the same thing in the ongoing story of history. Have you noticed how rare it is for someone raised in a church not to go through a period of examining and questioning their traditional practices? Yet even here there is more than one approach. You can start in rebellion against all you have learned, or use it for a launching pad from which to move on. Who is more successful? If you reject all you have been given you have no foundation from which to progress but if you honor the good you already have you are in a position to make it better, and make it your own. 

Have you ever heard the gospel message declared in such a way that presents Jesus on the cross standing between you and a Father full of wrath? It is important to emphasize the centrality of the cross, but this picture presents a false impression of the Father. My disciples asked me to show them the Father and I told them that my Father and I were one, and that the Father himself loved them. John the Baptist was reluctant to baptize me, and with good reason, but I told him to go ahead that all righteousness may be fulfilled. I went to the cross for the same reason. It was not to stand between you and a God of wrath, for the Father loves you too. 

You are familiar with hunger for food. You call this an appetite, but both of these terms can be applied more broadly. You can hunger for human contact, and my word says those who hunger for righteousness are blessed. Have you ever been hungry to worship me? This is a spiritual hunger for my presence and communion with me. Those who are in darkness do not understand this but they are still restless until they enter into life. Do you understand that worship is an inherent response to your creator and is the primary source of your life and vitality? It gives meaning and purpose in a random and chaotic world. I want you to be sensitive to this appetite that you may seek to satisfy it. Blessed are those who hunger to worship me for I will receive their adoration. 

Computers, networks, and databases have in recent years made it possible to access vast amounts of information. Do you think people are smarter as a result? They can be better informed but even if the search is easy you still have to seek before you find. Your character and interests still determine what you will look for. If you seek the things of this world you may find it easier than ever to attain them, but they are still insufficient to meet your real needs. My word is as true in an age of computer networks as it was in a day of scrolls. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and righteousness and you will find it and all these things will be added to you.