Dale Cresap's blog

Whom do you consider to be qualified to instruct you in righteousness? Do you require that your teachers be of the highest caliber in character and knowledge? This sounds like a great idea, but it requires you to become a judge before you become a student. A more mature approach is to maintain a constant awareness that I am your teacher and inquiring of me what I would teach you through anyone you meet. I can speak to you through the dull and ignorant and even through unbelievers. There is a difference between seeking someone to find out what they know and asking me what I am saying in a situation. The more open you are the more you will learn. 

“Sine qua non” is a Latin term meaning “without which there is nothing”. What is the essential element for you, that which you cannot surrender though you give up everything else? I gave Moses permission to go on without me but he said that if I would not go with him he would not go. I was pleased with his answer for it showed that he valued my presence above all other things. I promised to be with you always, even unto the end of the age. Do you sense that I am with you? This awareness brings focus, direction, and divine initiative to your thoughts and actions. I want you to regard this as essential in everything you do. 

You know that there is healing in my atonement so you pray for the sick and injured on the basis of my promises for healing, and you rightly give me glory when they are healed. What about those who remain healthy and do not require healing? Isn’t this what you would prefer for yourself? Do you find it conspicuous when someone goes many years without sickness, injury, or other infirmity? Do you think this happens by random coincidence, or is this something for which you should also give me glory and gratitude? Blessed are those who experience and recognize and acknowledge my keeping power over them.

Eric Liddell was a missionary to China, but he was also a competitive runner. He competed as an athlete before going to the mission field. Some close to him discouraged him from running, but he said he felt my pleasure when he ran. You may not be a world-class athlete, but is there anything you do that makes you aware of my pleasure? If nothing comes to mind then perhaps you should look more closely. I distribute talents to all, and I take pleasure in those who use them. This is not limited to the few things that may first come to mind for you. I want your eyes to be open to the spiritual reality that surrounds you that you may be aware of my pleasure and deliberately give me glory with joy and gratitude.

My word speaks of signs and wonders, and promises that they will follow those who present my message. Have you seen such signs? Have any of them followed you? Every day you see signs on the roads that provide direction to destinations. Spiritual signs serve the same purpose. They serve to direct people to me. Road signs provide useful information, but you do not have a sense of fascination about them. In like manner you should not regard spiritual signs with fixation, but only as they point to me. They are superior to road signs because they point to a superior destination. I will provide more of them to follow your service to me if you keep them in proper perspective.

Do you have some time left over after earning a living that you can spend as you please? How you spend it is an indication of your identity, but it can also shape and direct your identity. You have a wide variety of entertainment available to you but they all have in common that they can become passive experiences. You have an even greater selection of active pursuits available. These can push and challenge you and they require you to put forth effort to accomplish them, but don’t you find them more fulfilling? This is not to say that entertainment is a sin, and it can be enriching, but I want you to think in terms of growth and abundance.

Do you prefer the company of high achievers? Do you like to associate with those who are smart and focused and self-disciplined, living successful lives? This attraction is understandable, yet my word also says to condescend to men of low estate. There is no contradiction here; both are possible. The apostle Paul said he knew both how to be abased and how to abound. He became all things to all people that he might serve me well. I came to give you abundant life and one aspect of that is to be able to relate to all people. A vessel of honor is suitable for every good work, and my mature servants can represent me to any audience. 

Do you find rejection intolerable? If you were of the world the world would love you, but you are not of the world even as I am not of the world. I came into the world and was rejected by it. And so you are faced with a choice. You can have acceptance with me or with the world, but not both. I understand that rejection by those around you is painful, but to reject me would be unthinkable. You have my comfort and consolation when even those closest to you reject you, but who will comfort you if you reject me? My prophets accepted the fact that they were strangers and sojourners in this world, but I said the world was not worthy of them. Are you prepared to face the same reality? When you do rejoice knowing you made the better choice. 

Be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Have you noticed that people in a group tend to think alike, and serve to reinforce one another whether they are right or not? You can see the risk from immersion in an unbelieving culture that does not share your faith and values. Can you see that this could be a problem even in a church? Is it possible that the believers you commonly associate with have a narrower view than I do? I told my followers that I had other sheep who were not of this fold. This was a struggle for them at the founding of my church and the same principle and struggle still apply today. I want you to accept all who are my sheep that there may be one flock under one shepherd. 

Parents understand the frustration of having kids who are picky eaters. They provide them with nourishing food, but the kids would prefer junk food. They are reluctant to try anything new and unfamiliar. You can see how the children would benefit by being more open minded and adventurous. Can you see the same thing in yourself? I said that those who hungered and thirst after righteousness were blessed because they would be filled. Are you hungry in this way? Are you hungry enough to look beyond your familiar close circle of believers? I have more to teach you and you won’t find it looking in the same places you have looked before. Spiritual hunger is a blessing that will drive you to the fullness of the abundance I have for you.