Dale Cresap's blog

Are you knowledgeable? You acquire knowledge by study and some has more value than others. Knowledge of technical systems may help you to earn a living or derive all the benefits of available technology where knowledge of sports statistics and popular culture would not. But even knowledge that is useful may have a limited lifetime. The technology you work with can become obsolete with time and your knowledge of systems declines with age. But there is knowledge that endures. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God for the knowledge you acquire about eternal things endures forever.

Are you secure? Insecurity can come in many forms. You speak of food insecurity for the poor, but the more commonly experienced types in affluent countries are financial and emotional. You know people who secure and insecure in various ways. Is there also a spiritual form of security and insecurity? In the parable of the talents two servants took the talents entrusted to them and put them at risk and as a result increased them. The other servant buried his talent in the earth because he thought I was harsh and unfair. Do you know that I love you?

Do you view your life as a comedy or a tragedy? Or something else? These were the categories of ancient theater. The term comedy is still in common use for this, but the term tragedy is used for real world events. It is unavoidable that you will experience some suffering in life. Does this make your life a tragic story? Yet even in the ancient dramas those with tragic flaws and events could bear them with dignity and retain their character and learn from them. How do you respond to your own tragic life events? Do I sustain you in them and use them for your development and transformation?

Have you heard that accident rates go up when drivers talk on cell phones? In many areas this practice has been outlawed for this reason. Yet drivers have been talking to passengers in their cars for as long as cars have been around and this does not appear to cause a problem. What is the difference? A cell phone conversation is different from one in person because it lacks a sense of immediate presence, and this makes a real difference. Can you think of other areas in which presence is important? You do not see me, but can you sense my presence? Are you aware that I am always with you?

Are you seeking wisdom? This is a pursuit highly commended in the Bible. Do you compare it to looking for your car keys? These are vastly different activities. You expect the search for your keys to be short and focused and when you find them the search is over and you can get on to your next activity. You can expect the search for wisdom to take a lifetime. It doesn’t have a ‘eureka’ moment when that which you desire is found once and for all. Hopefully you will retain the wisdom you obtain along the way as you continue your search. Don’t be discouraged.

Are you looking for something glorious and magnificent? My early followers were. They would have been happy with a conquering king to deliver them from occupation and oppression. Do you think that some were disappointed with my teachings about lilies and sheep and coins and birds? Are you? Many of my messages I closed with the words, he who has eyes to see, let him see, or he who has ears to hear, let him hear. My audience was hungry for the Kingdom of God, and my message was that the Kingdom of God is all around you in everyday life if you have eyes to see and ears to hear. Do you?

Do you find that everyone laments the problems in the world, and has strong opinions about what is wrong, and firm ideas about what needs to be changed? Do you? Do you think the world would be a better place if you ran it? Beware of this conclusion. Recall all the times in history when those who thought they had a better idea seized the power to implement it. How well has this worked out? My word tells you that I have ordained the powers that be.

Does the Bible teach you that my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts? Do you accept that this is true even if you have a Bible? The Bible doesn’t make you smarter than me. Moses trembled when he encountered me, and others, including my beloved John, fell to the ground on their faces as dead men. But you have come to the City of the Living God and have access to a greater realm of glory than they did. Can you bear it?

Have you heard of pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps? This common saying implies an intense self-directed effort but it is logically impossible to pull yourself up this way and the attempt  would only create internal stress. Does this illustration of physics have a spiritual parallel? Can you achieve your own spiritual awakening, salvation, and transformation? You acknowledge dependence on me for these things. Do you require the assistance of others as well? You do not exist in isolation and were not designed to live this way.

Do you take the Bible seriously? What is your greatest concern about the Bible? Do you insist that all the events of the Bible happened exactly as described, and would appear as such if captured by modern video recording? Is this your defense of the integrity of the Bible? Or are you more concerned about how to implement in your own life the message that the Bible speaks to you? Can you answer this question by the guidance given in the Bible? Some are called to be theologians, but the guidance I gave to everyone who responded to my message was to follow me.