Dale Cresap's blog

Have you heard that the Spirit makes intercession for you with groanings too deep to be uttered? Have you heard that most communication is non-verbal? How great is your own experience and practice of this? Have you ever shared space and presence with someone in an encounter in which words were not necessary; in fact they would have interfered? Yet the encounter and interaction and exchange were real. I said that my sheep hear my voice, yet I am not limited to words in the way I communicate.

Are you familiar with the story of the importunate widow? Do you think of your faith as based on a relationship of love with me? Yet there is no basis of love in this story. The widow got what she wanted by persistence, and the story emphasizes that the unjust judge was not moved by compassion or even justice. So what do you do with this? How do you fit it into a consistent and coherent faith narrative that you can follow? Importunity is not a very commonly used word anymore. A more familiar modern term in audacity.

Do you believe in giving credit where credit is due? Have you been a believer long enough to have a testimony of me? Do you have stories of my loving and faithful interventions in your life? How do you come across in your stories? Most people sound pretty good in theirs. Do your stories present you as being full of faith and power or are they more about my goodness and faithfulness? I told you to let your light shine before men that I may be glorified. Do you have to tell people that this is the point of the story, or is it obvious from the content of the story that it is about me?

I promised that I would come back and you can count on it. What is your attitude towards my return? Are you eager for me to appear? There is Biblical support and encouragement for loving my appearing. But Paul was conflicted on this issue. He had a desire to depart and be with me, but realized that other people were depending on him to do important work here on earth. He decided that it was better for him to remain for this reason and in so doing was following my example. Do you feel the same tension within yourself?

Have you ever heard someone in the midst of a difficult situation say, at times like these you find out who your friends are? This is the other side of the coin to the idea of fair weather friends. The concept in both cases is that true friends will stay with you during difficult times. Who would welcome hardships? Yet in this age of social media and the casual friendships it produces the knowledge of who you can count on in distress is valuable. Have you found that these few are of more value to you than the many who are superficial?

Are you apprehensive about tests? Would you like to take a test you could not fail? Peter denied me three times and although you could argue that this was failure, I gave him a chance to redeem himself by doing it over. So you could view this as an opportunity to repeat rather than a failure. Wouldn’t you prefer to pass every test the first time? Then you could move on to other things with a sense of accomplishment, and not have to go through the cycle again. Have you been successful at this? What I did for Peter I will do for you. I will give you more opportunities to pass the test.

Have you ever had an annoying tune go through your head? Have you tried to get rid of it and found this to be difficult? It is widely known that a boat displaces an amount of water equal to its own weight. If the boat were lifted out of the water the hole would not remain; water would rush in to fill it. The tune in your head is subject to the same principle. You can’t replace something with nothing. Pick a tune you like and use it to replace the annoying one. How many other examples of the principle of displacement can you think of that you can use to your advantage in your own life?

What character traits would you expect of a loving God? What about those who follow him? Wouldn’t they be loving also? This is a reasonable expectation for those who claim to be transformed into his image and likeness. Would this love extend only to those who share the same beliefs? Believers who claim to follow a God who loves everyone should demonstrate this same love. What reward would they have if they only loved their friends? Doesn’t everyone do that? But when they love those who hate them it demonstrates a love beyond ordinary love; a love that is transcendent.

Do you believe the Bible? Do you have favorite verses? Is it easy for you to turn to them from familiar use? Does the Bible speak to you with the same intensity that it did to the original audience? Have things that were shocking and radical to those who first heard them become diminished in impact through repeated exposure? You can develop immunity to diseases. Can you develop immunity to the Bible? What can you do to keep the message alive, to keep it fresh and new, and to respond to the challenge it gives to live beyond the life you currently live?

Are you a student? Are you a teacher? There is an obvious fit between these two, but some people cease to be students and some never progress to being teachers. Yet you can be both your entire life and this is something to strive for. Do you see every person you meet as someone to learn from? This takes an attitude of humility to realize that even the most dull and ignorant people you meet know something that you don’t know, and that is worthwhile to know. I put this knowledge in them for a reason, and made it available to you through them.