Dale Cresap's blog

You describe your faith as a relationship with me and you are right. Do you understand and walk in all that this implies? Your faith is not a relationship to a book, not even the Bible, nor is it a relationship to a church. Both of these things are good, but they are an outgrowth of your faith rather than the central theme of it. Your relationship to me is the basis for the revelation of my Word to you. It also makes you a member of my body that you may take your place in my body. Search the scriptures for in them you look for life, and they testify of me. Come to me that you may have life. 

Do you do a thorough housecleaning in the spring? Is it a relief to get rid of the clutter that seems to accumulate with no effort on your part? This can make you feel more at home in your own home. You can think of your life in a larger sense as a home and your body as my temple for dwelling. The metaphor of housecleaning applies here as well, and you benefit from eliminating clutter and dirt from your life. You don’t need to wait for spring to do this. Eliminate low value activities that clutter your life, and the character flaws that hinder your effectiveness. Set your house in order that your temple may be a comfortable dwelling place for me. 

Would you like to see a miracle? Would you like to have a miracle performed on your behalf? This is possible, but miracles are not for entertainment. I don’t perform them without a purpose and a need. Let us rephrase the questions above. Are you willing to be in a state of need so desperate that only a miracle will save you? You are used to seeing entertainment and being unaffected by it. The story of someone else’s miracle may build your faith, but not as much as one you receive for yourself. The more difficult the situation, the greater glory I receive for intervening on your behalf. Are you willing to endure this degree of difficulty that I may be glorified through you?

My word promises that I will give you what you ask for. Do you think that you should be able to pray once and get immediate results? Yet I told the story of the importunate widow to show that effective prayer is sustained. Have you ever wanted something and prayed fervently for it? Did you rejoice with gratitude when your prayer was answered? Yet did you also find that your level of devotion and fervency declined when you were able to cross this item off your prayer list? Are you as interested in the development of your character as much as you are in the answer to your prayer? I am. This is why you don’t always get immediate results.

What aspect of the Christian life do you enjoy the most? If a church held separate meetings for bible study, prayer, and worship, would you expect the attendance to decline in that order? Where is most time currently devoted, and about which activity do you hear complaints that it went on too long? Yet you desire to go to heaven. What activity takes place there? You will not need to study the way you do now, for you will know as you are known. The things you pray for, such as healing and provision, will not be issues. Worship will endure for eternity. I don’t want this to be an abrupt transition for you. Get used to the idea now.

Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. This verse was written in the context of the basic necessities of life: food and drink and clothing. Are these daily concerns of yours? You are fortunate if you are affluent enough that these basic needs are satisfied. Are you then concerned about higher level things like a satisfying career and a suitable life companion? This principle of scripture is universal and applies at every level. No matter what you desire, seek first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and ALL these things will be added unto you. 

Is it proper for one faith to go to war against another, even if they hold irreconcilable doctrines? This has been tried before. Can you find anyone today who thinks the Crusades were a good idea? Do not repeat a mistake. You have a battle to fight, but the weapons of your warfare are not carnal, and neither are your enemies. For I have called you to contend with dark spiritual principalities and powers. Prosecute these attacks with vigor and determination, yet in this world be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves. Not only are you not to perpetrate evil, but you are to turn the other cheek to those who would harm you, that you may be the children of your Father in heaven who will defend you. 

Are you confident and assertive? Are you all the more so the more sure you are of your position? Are you more certain of the truth of the gospel message than of anything else? This does not give you the right to be an arrogant know-it-all. When I walked this earth I was meek and lowly in heart even though I was truth personified. Don’t you find me to be this way even now? The people you encounter will perceive your demeanor and accept or reject you on this basis before they even listen to what you have to say. Follow my example in your character and behavior that you may win your audience for me. 

Do you judge others by what they wear? They judge you. Can you hold the same view of yourself regardless of what you wear, even when you know that the opinions of others about you will be formed on the basis of your appearance? Yet the Kingdom of God is not about apparel. A spiritual identity is transcendent of the things of this world. Your essential being is not affected by what you wear. I am a foundation for you that is firm and solid as opposed to changing fashion. I know that you have need of these things and will provide them for you, but seek first my Kingdom, and have your identity established in it, and all these things will be added unto you. 

Do you insist on getting your own way? Do you consider it a victory when you do and a defeat when you do not? Yet victories come at a price, and sometimes the price is greater than the value obtained. A stubborn and willful demeanor can get results in the short term by belligerence and overbearing. Yet in the long term this will drive people away from you. The final cost is the loss of things that are priceless. My word says it is better to suffer wrong than to sue your brother in court. Even short of legal action there are proper and improper ways of addressing disputes. It is in your own interest to take a long term view and consider yielding now to have a better future for yourself.