Dale Cresap's blog

What excuses do you hear from people who refuse to trust and follow me? That I will take control of their lives and compel them to go and do missionary work some place they don’t want to go? Their logic and reason are inverted. How many people feel trapped in their life circumstances, in a dead-end job and frustration over an unfulfilled dream? How many do you meet who plod through life unaware, with no real sense of destiny, purpose, or identity of their own? Don’t you find that it is believers who follow me who know that they are in my will and find it to be the fulfillment of their lives? Come to me for only I can bring to fruition the purpose for which I made you. I am your destiny maker. 

Have you heard that beauty is only skin deep? There is a superficial sense of truth to this statement. Beauty is a combination of internal and external factors. Your culture has distorted these senses because it is so obsessed with appearance. Yet even with this you know superficially attractive people you do not admire, and their counterparts you do admire after you get to know them. I want you to mature beyond the values of your culture that your eyes may be open to see the true essence of the people you meet for their true and enduring identity. As you become more like me you will see other people the way I see them. 

You know that my word teaches you to love your enemies and pray for them. How do you pray for your enemies? Do you ask me to call down fire from heaven on them? Yet this is not consistent with love, and I corrected my disciples for wanting to do this. Should you pray that they will be blessed and find enjoyment in the use of things they stole from you? I do not expect you to affirm their sin. You could pray that my redemptive purpose would be advanced in their life. This may not be something that they would pray for themselves but it is what they really need whether they realize it or not. This is a prayer that you can pray in good conscience for your enemies and one that I am eager to answer. 

Do you like to get your own way? Who doesn’t? People think they will be happy if they get their own way, yet what do you observe about those who get their own way all the time? Don’t you find them to be selfish and spoiled? Can you see that it is more important to grow in grace than to get everything you want? I teach you to seek my Kingdom before the things of this world, and in my Kingdom there are no scarce resources. If you continue to do this you will be changed and transformed into my likeness so that selfishness is not possible. Be willing to lose your life that you may have life, and you will look back and see that you have not been deprived of anything. 

Do you long for a world of established and well-defined order? There is some comfort in this, but it is an unrealistic expectation, for I did not create a static world. Can you balance on a bicycle without moving? Yet you can ride a bicycle without falling over. Engineers distinguish between static and dynamic stability, and you can expect more of the latter than the former in the world of vital life that I created. Do you feel insecure when everything around you seems to be in motion? I know you need a fixed point of reference and I provide that in myself. Trust me to lead you onward in a safe path to peace and victory in this seemingly chaotic world. Please pray for Kim (not her real name (God knows who she is)) who is struggling with legal and marital problems related to alcohol. She has left home and feels she can’t forgive herself.

Does it bother you to watch the success of the wicked? Many godless people come to an early ruin without attracting much attention, but are you bothered by the few who gain the visible success of wealth and fame? I promise to provide for all and not all are godly. Yet you receive the greater gift. For you sought me for my own sake and I have revealed my heart and mind to you. Do you understand that this enduring treasure is greater than material stuff or the approval of men? Have I not promised to provide your material needs as well? Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you. 

Have you ever had someone thank you for your kindness to them when you were unaware of any special effort to show them favor or consideration? Receive it gracefully. Perhaps it is in your character to treat them better than other people do. This is the result of my work in your life. My word poses the question, are not sinners kind to those who are kind to them? In like manner you make a deliberate effort to show kindness to your friends and those of high rank and others important to you. Yet by my transforming work in your life you are able to show the same courtesy to all, and be the children of your Father in heaven. 

My word teaches you that to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Do you think that a carnal mind refers only to thoughts of sinful things like greed and lust and hatred? It includes these and more as well. Have you ever tried to investigate the mysteries of my Kingdom within the limitations of your own intellect? Spiritual things are spiritually discerned; revealed by my Spirit. There are places I want to take you that the logical structure of human wisdom will not accept, yet you can receive them by revelation, by faith. Choose not to be offended by things beyond your understanding and I will increase your understanding to teach you of my Kingdom.

Have you ever gone on a treasure hunt? What about an Easter egg hunt? In the first case you quit looking when you find the treasure. In the second you look and find and keep on looking, because you know there is more. My word teaches you to seek and find. Do you think of this as a treasure hunt or Easter egg hunt? You know that I am the pearl of great price, and you begin with finding me. Yet I want you to think of your searching as an Easter egg hunt, for I have more for you to find. Search and keep on searching, and you will find and keep on finding. Don’t quit seeking when you find, for I have a lifetime of discovery available for you. 

Have you noticed that there are believers outside your circle of fellowship who read the same Bible and come to different conclusions on some doctrinal issues? There are major points of doctrine that are non-negotiable. To violate these is heresy. How do you handle the rest? Do you assume that the most righteous and Christlike person is the most exacting and narrowest in interpreting doctrine and in whom they will accept as a fellow believer? Isn’t it rather that the most Christlike person is the most loving, accepting, and inclusive? There are things you cannot yield. This should be a reluctant position after attempting conciliation rather than judgment.