Dale Cresap's blog

Have you ever seen an iceberg? Most people have not, but most people also know that only a small portion of an iceberg is visible above water, so if they ever did see one they would realize that most of it is below the surface. Do you know that you live in a spiritual realm? The visible world that you see is just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.  You are immersed in a spiritual reality that is just as real even though you can’t see it. You know that the 90% of the iceberg underwater supports the 10% that is visible. In about the same proportions the invisible spiritual world supports the world you can see.  

Are you fishing in shallow waters? You may not fish at all, but you choose how you spend your time, whether it is on things of substance that matter, or on passing things with no enduring value. Do you find that this modern world exerts pressure on you toward the banal and frivolous? It takes a sense of purpose and intention to turn away from the readily available diversions and amusements to seek deeper things. My disciples were fishermen and I told them to push out into deeper water for a catch, and this proved to be good advice. I would offer you the same advice whether you are a fisherman or not.

The Psalmist knew that my mercies were new every morning. What do you see when you get up in the morning and look out your window? Does the scene seem stale and mundane? It is a human tendency to disregard the familiar and not see new and innovative things in places you have looked before. Part of my transformative work in your life involves moving beyond this limited perspective into new vision. The Psalmist was right. If you have eyes to see you will look at the same things and see things you have never seen before. This is true vision because it is in accordance with my continual presence and mercies that are new every morning.

My word tells you to seek me, and promises that if you do you will find me, if you seek for me with all your heart. So where do you begin your search? In most searches, such as your car keys or other lost items, you know where to start. You also know where to start looking for information. In the case of a person you go to places you expect them to be. But a search for me is not based on locations. In telling my disciples not to go here or there chasing reports of my presence I told them that my Kingdom was within them. Is this the one place you are afraid to look? Yet you have my promise that if you do I will find you there.

Have you heard believers discuss the question of ‘once saved, always saved’? This is a theological proposition that is also referred to as the question of eternal security. It has remained an open controversy over the centuries with opposing schools of thought. Can you lose your salvation? This question comes close to one you are told to avoid; who shall ascend into heaven, and who shall descend into hell. It is also a question that is more legalistic than relational. If you are deeply immersed in a relationship with me it should be incomprehensible to you that it could ever be discontinued.

I was hungry and you fed me, and thirsty and you gave me a drink. You are probably familiar with these entries from a list of ways you can help others, and there are a few others mentioned. Do you think the list was meant to be exhaustive? You could apply the same principle to the world you live in. My car broke down and you gave me a ride, or my battery was dead and you gave me a jump start. If thoughtfulness, kindness, and generosity are your guiding principles then you will look for every opportunity to exercise them, and you will be doing so unto me as much as in the Biblical list.

Do people confide in you? Do you find it flattering when they do? Do they confide their own faults and shortcomings or those of others? This is a crucial distinction. In the first case it follows the Biblical concept of confessing your faults to one another that you may be healed. In the second case it follows the Biblical concept of gossip and tale bearing. Do you know intuitively who is a receptive audience for what information? It doesn’t take much discernment to figure this out, and it is just as easy for others to see it in you. So the harmful things that people are willing to confide in you about others may tell you something about yourself.

What comes to mind when you think of heaven? Great wealth? The descriptions you find in my word describe a magnificent place. What is the deepest longing of your heart right now? Is it for money? Or is it for belonging, connection, meaning, and purpose? I placed these within everyone and you see people using a wide variety of approaches to satisfy them. I know you need money, but doesn’t your soul have a greater hunger for these things? I do not promise that you will have money in heaven; you won’t need it there. But if heaven is a place where these deeper desires are satisfied, isn’t that better?

Have you ever heard the saying, it isn’t what you know but who you know? This is most commonly used as a cynical expression in the world of commerce where, for example, the most qualified applicant for a job was not hired because they didn’t have connections. Yet there is still an underlying transcendent truth in this concept. For your faith consists of relational truth. Doesn’t every believer describe the essence of their faith this way? In this case it isn’t enough to know about me, but eternal life is for those who know me. No amount of classroom or book study will get you there but it is readily available to children.

Are you familiar with the doctrine of the Trinity? Do you see it as a math problem? How can three be one? Other faith traditions reject this concept and Christians struggle to come up with metaphors to explain it. You may have heard many of these and perhaps used some of them yourself. I want you to understand the concept of the Trinity as an expression of relationship rather than a math problem. It is a mystery but not a riddle. This is important because you use the concept of relationship to describe the very essence of your faith in me, and one of my last acts on earth was to invite you to be a part of it.