Dale Cresap's blog

Do you follow my commandments? Blessed are those who do and teach them. Do you do this out of joy or with a sense of bitterness or resentment? Do you think it is enough just to obey, regardless of the attitude of your heart? It was the Pharisees who made a practice of bitter obedience. It doesn’t have to be this way. The Psalmist loved my law, knowing it was a lamp to his feet and a light to his path. Those who know me from afar think obedience to me is an oppressive burden. The better you know me the more you will realize that my commandments are ideal for you. 

Are fathers interested in the activities of their children? This is normal and you expect it. Are the children interested in the activities of their fathers? Perhaps when they are young, but do you observe a decline in this as they approach adolescence? Consider a parallel to my Kingdom. I am always interested in your activities. Are you always interested in mine? Those who feared me spoke often to one another and thought upon my name. I took note of this and declared they would be my own possession in the day I made up my jewels, and I would spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Not all sons are interested in serving, but the greatest possible favor is reserved for those who do.

Do you know that there are true and false pleasures? My word refers to the pleasure of sin for a season. Sinners think that sin gives true pleasure because they don’t know the difference between the true and false. The pleasure of sin does not endure, but that is not the only problem with it. Even from the first moment true pleasure has an innocent and peaceful quality that the pleasure of sin does not. If you have experienced both you know that there is no special discernment required to tell the two apart. I want you to see the difference between them and choose the pleasures that are right for today. They are right for eternity, as the pleasures at my right hand forevermore.

Are you familiar with the idea of a ‘peace offering’? My word describes many ancient sacrifices for many occasions, but a peace offering is a familiar idea even for unbelievers. If there has been conflict between you and another person you can seek to resolve it by doing something kind for them. Is this a new covenant Biblical principle? Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you, so shall you be the children of your Father in heaven. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they are the children of God. You can give costly peace offerings when they are called for knowing that they are really sacrifices to me.

Medical scientists have learned that inflammation is unhealthy. It opens the door for a multitude of ailments. Do you understand that there is also a spiritual version of inflammation? Are you agitated over injustice in the world and other offenses? Are you tense because of worries and cares and woes? These are forms of spiritual inflammation which are just as detrimental as the physical type. Spiritual inflammation is anything that steals your peace. I came to give you peace and you should avoid anything that would take it from you. Cast your cares on me, and don’t let external circumstances rob your inner peace and inflame you. 

Are you depressed? The use of prescription antidepressants is widespread today, but the problem is even grater than this suggests, for there are both medical and spiritual definitions of depression. In simple terms if you do not have joy then you are spiritually depressed. Joy is delight in life. This is the birthright of my children. If your life is in me then there is no difference between joy in me and joy in life. Observe children and see their wonder and marvel at the world around them. Then realize that you are my child and you stand on the brink of eternity. Let this understanding fill your observations of the world around you to give you joy and delight.

Are you familiar with the terms devotion and dissipation? These words are Christian jargon but they have more general definitions as well. You consider the former to be good and the latter to be bad and you are right. The key lies in their general definitions. Devoted things are committed to a single purpose. Things that are dissipated are scattered without purpose. Are you familiar with the idea of being spread too thin? If you commit yourself to too many things, even good things, you will be too tired to carry out the mission I have for you. I want you to focus and control your energies that they may be effective in carrying out the unique destiny I have just for you. 

Are you normally a fussy eater? Have you ever been really hungry? Did that make you less particular about what you ate? Hunger is a non-specific desire for food. The more you experience it the less you will be fussy about how you satisfy it. Are you a fussy eater in a spiritual sense, or do you hunger and thirst after righteousness? Some believers will only accept ministry from certain individuals or those within their tradition or denomination. Yet I have spiritual nourishment for you outside of these confines. You are wise to be discerning about the unfamiliar, but if you hunger and thirst after righteousness you should cast your net beyond your current comfort level.

I said that it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. My disciples were astonished at this. Who then can be saved? The poor know that what I offer them is better than what they currently have. I also offer the wealthy something better than they currently have, but how many of them are in a position to understand this? A rich young ruler went away sorrowful rather than doing what I told him to enter the Kingdom of heaven, and the cares of this world choked out some of the seed scattered by the sower. You would rather be rich than poor, but don’t let your affluence hinder you from following me.

Do you constantly look for greater things to do for me? It is an admirable trait for you to want to expand your usefulness in my Kingdom. Yet do you find limited opportunities for upward advancement? There is strong competition for prominent positions. Perhaps you would get better results by changing your focus. Instead of looking for some greater way to serve, see if you can find some smaller way than you currently do. You will find more opportunities and less competition in this search, and he who is faithful with little will be given much. Yet do not look at these small things only as stepping stones to great things, for they are valuable in their own right.