daily word - reserves

Dale Cresap's picture

Submitted by Dale Cresap on January 22, 2021 - 06:00

Are you familiar with the idea of reserves? You may practice it. Are you aware of how much gas you have in your car and add fuel before you run out? Do you have some money available for emergencies? This concept applies in many areas. Can you think of others? What about a reserve of grace? Have you ever felt depleted by a series of extreme demands? Grace isn’t something you can measure and save like gallons and dollars, yet you still know people who seem to have a larger reserve to draw on than others.

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Revelation in Times of Confinement by Bill Dupley

Mark Virkler's picture

Submitted by Mark Virkler on January 21, 2021 - 07:43

I was reading a 1941 National Geographic about the Isle of Patmos. It described the grotto that the apostle John lived in when the Romans banished him to Patmos' Isle. Away from people, John was alone with God, and although it was designed as a punishment, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. John wrote the gospel of John and the book of Revelation in that grotto.

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daily word - lead and follow

Dale Cresap's picture

Submitted by Dale Cresap on January 21, 2021 - 06:00

Are you a leader? Do you assume that there are few leaders and many followers and if you are not a leader then you are a follower? Everyone can and should be both, and you should look for both aspects in your own life. I was impressed with a Centurion who had understanding not because he had men under him, but because he was a man under authority. Do you assume that you must be a follower rather than a leader because you cannot identify any direct followers? Even if you don’t have a title and an office I have still given you a realm in which you can exert influence.

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daily word - empowered

Dale Cresap's picture

Submitted by Dale Cresap on January 20, 2021 - 06:00

Would you do your job any differently if you had the authority and resources to do it any way you wanted and total responsibility for the outcome? This is a relatively recent concept in the world of commerce and is referred to as empowerment. But it has been around a long time in the Kingdom of God. Have I not given you the authority to act in my name from the very first? Have I not promised to grant all your requests and to provide you with all the resources you need to do all that I have commanded you? I told you to occupy until I return.

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Hearing God’s Voice and Brain Science – Virkler & Lehman

Mark Virkler's picture

Submitted by Mark Virkler on January 19, 2021 - 17:01

I have recently had the joy of building a friendship with Dr. Karl Lehman who is a board-certified psychiatrist and the author of Outsmarting Yourself and The Immanuel Approach (750 pages long). Dr. Karl has especially worked to integrate faith-based emotional healing with insights provided by psychological and neurological research.

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daily word - restorative solitude

Dale Cresap's picture

Submitted by Dale Cresap on January 19, 2021 - 06:00

Do you ever seek solitude? Do you ever feel the need to get away from the noise and activity of the crowd? Even I was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, and later went into the desert to pray, and the founders of faith traditions went away from human company to encounter God. Do you do this because you find people to be annoying? Yet you are called to love your neighbor and your brother. In fact loving God and loving your neighbor are inseparable. It is too easy to think you love your brother when he is not around.

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daily word - real person?

Dale Cresap's picture

Submitted by Dale Cresap on January 18, 2021 - 06:00

Have you ever answered the phone and thought that you were talking to a real person, but found out that you were talking to a recorded message machine? Who wouldn’t prefer to talk to a real person? Yet have you ever had the same experience with a real person? Have you ever heard someone present a memorized message on autopilot and suspected that they were not really listening to you any more than the corresponding machine on the phone? Don’t do this to other people. It is okay to listen to what people say and make a response based on what is actually said.

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daily word - community?

Dale Cresap's picture

Submitted by Dale Cresap on January 17, 2021 - 06:00

Do you seek out a community to avoid living in isolation? When I said that it was not good for the man to be alone it was the expression of a universal truth, and there is a deep human longing to connect in community. But communities can themselves be isolated, and you have seen examples of this. If it is not good for the man to be alone, how much better is it to be in a group that is small, exclusive, intolerant, adversarial, and judgmental? This would not appear to be much of an improvement.

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daily word - monolithic?

Dale Cresap's picture

Submitted by Dale Cresap on January 16, 2021 - 06:00

Do you assume that all tribes are monolithic? You could think of denominations or entire faith traditions the same way. Yet you know people in your own church who hold variations on your shared beliefs. Do you assume that those outside of your tradition or tribe are monolithic within their own tribe? They probably feel the same way about you, but the same arguments apply. Do you think of atheists as being monolithic? Yet even here there is considerable variation. Some are hopeful skeptics who hunger for a transcendent reality they have not yet encountered. Can you help them to find it?

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daily word - sacred wounds

Dale Cresap's picture

Submitted by Dale Cresap on January 15, 2021 - 06:00

Have you ever been wounded? Not all wounds are physical and visible. What is your attitude toward yours? Do you see them as hindrances and sources of shame and diminishment? What is your attitude toward my wounds? Do you see them as the redemption of humanity? Who can escape being wounded? Suffering is a part of life, but it doesn’t have to be a hindrance and a source of shame, or victimization. All wounds start out as ordinary. Your response to them determines what they become. Mine became sacred wounds. Can you regard yours in such a way that they do too?

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