Dale Cresap's blog

 Have you ever been defensive? This happens to everyone at times, but you should avoid it as much as possible. Being in a defensive state prevents you from learning and growing. You cannot defend and be open to growth and change at the same time. You need to accept vulnerability and risk if you are to move forward. Healing is something else that defensiveness interferes with, particularly of spiritual and emotional trauma. Have you observed that people are not healed spiritually until they reach a place of acceptance? Have you experienced it yourself?

Do you always want more? You live in a culture driven by scarcity and acquisition, that doesn’t appreciate the question of how much is enough, if more is always better. But this is not the only possible view. How about a culture of sufficient provision? What if the resources you have in hand were adequate to do what you needed to do? What has been your own life experience? How often have you been unable to do the things that really mattered because you didn’t have enough? I have an unlimited supply for your provision. Can you see the possibilities in what I have already given you?

Come to me all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest for your soul, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Are you weary from carrying great burdens? How many of these are imposed on you by necessity and the circumstances of life, and how many do you pick up voluntarily? What is your attitude toward rest? Do you see it as a regrettable necessity and fill the time allotted for it with other activities? No wonder you are tired. I want you to see your time of rest as sacred as anything else you do. I created both day and night for a reason.

Do you think that religion and spirituality are the same thing? Some people use the terms interchangeably, and for others religion is a dirty word. There is a useful distinction between them. You could think of spirituality as a connection to the transcendent eternal mystery. Religion is the structure and framework that supports the journey. Some people prefer one aspect or the other but you need both. It is too easy to spiritual without the infrastructure of community and regular practices. You have seen such people drift away with the wind.

If you read the Bible you will find that Paul wrote a great deal of the New Testament, and if you read it carefully you will realize that Paul did not encounter me in person the same way that the twelve did, even though there was that encounter on the road to Damascus. Do you have friends who would have wanted to walk with me while I was on this earth? In Paul I provide an example for you to follow for someone who followed me without having met me in person. Do not lament living when you do. Did Paul have a diminished spiritual experience?

I promised that I would come back. Do you wonder when this will occur? I did tell you to watch for my return, but I also said that no man knows the day or hour. This has not prevented many of my followers from trying to guess. There should have been more embarrassment than there was for failed predictions. How should you approach this matter? Watch for me, and do the work I have called you to. Today is the only time within your influence. Concern yourself more with being ready than with trying to predict the future.

Do you think you are special? You are. You are fearfully and wonderfully made in my image. You are unique and you are loved, and you have a destiny that only you can fulfill. Is this enough? For this is true of every person. Do you want to be more special than others? This causes problems. What good will come of the comparison and climbing for position? This is caused by insecurity. Those who do not know they are loved are grasping for it. Those who know they are don’t need to.

Do you believe in the value of diversity? Do you see this as a recent secular idea? It was my idea first. Look at the diversity of my creation. Do you see me as the one who loves you and your group? How convinced are you that my love extends to everyone in the same measure? It is true that I have a chosen people, but it was my intention from the first to use them as a basis for accepting and blessing all nations. Do you regard yourself as one of my chosen people now? Demonstrate this by taking up the same mandate. Can you express my love toward those who are entirely different from you?

You have your own gifts and other people have theirs. Do you think that yours are the best? Do you discount the value of the gifts and service of others? Do you expect to get a reward for the exercise of your superior gift? How would you like to get yours and the reward of someone else as well? You will be recognized for your faithfulness, but he who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. There are enough other positions listed to imply that this principle is universal. Love one another and regard others for their place in my body.

Do you consider yourself to be risk-seeking or risk-averse? Most believers do not intentionally seek out risk, but it will come to you since you can’t avoid making decisions in the absence of certainty about future events. Trying to avoid all risk is the worst risk of all. Consider the parable of the talents. All of the servants who took chances with the Master’s money were commended. The one who was not was the one who hid the talent in the earth, even though he returned it intact. The question of risk-taking can be reframed as acting in faith.