Dale Cresap's blog

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.

Attention Android Device Users!!  My blog entries are now available in a searchable database you can take with you on your Android device.

This free app is called “Wisdom for Today” and it can be accessed at the following direct link:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bccomputing.wisdom

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Do you think of sleep as wasted time? Even though you are not conscious during sleep it is an active rather than a passive process. I use it to fix the things that happen to you during the day. I speak to you in dreams and even if you are not aware of this I use the time to sort out your thoughts from the day. Don’t you feel refreshed after a good night’s sleep? Yet the modern pace of life tempts you to neglect this time of restoration. You may have many demands on your time but the lowest value thing you do awake is not more important than sleep. If you understand the value of it you will commit enough time for it. I give my beloved sleep.

Do you know people who are happier than they should be based on their circumstances in life? They have found it within themselves to be happy. This is still a necessary step to take for happiness even if you have pleasant and favorable circumstances. No external condition will force happiness upon you. When I told you to lay down your life to follow me it was not to deprive you. Read the whole context. If you seek to save your life you will lose it, but if you seek to lose your life for the sake of following me you will find joy in this world and in the world to come eternal life. 

Do you know people who have remarkably clear insights into evil? They can see it before others can and draw inferences about it that others do not. Do you admire this? It is not a gift from me. I do not want you to cultivate a consciousness of evil. You are called to be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves. To the pure all things are pure, and you are to think on those things that are pure and lovely and of a good report. You cannot study evil and not be affected by it. Evil is real and you have real enemies who seek to destroy you. Yet if you trust in me I will defend you and warn you about dangers you did not know. I can do a better job of this than you can. Leave it in my hands that you may study truth and righteousness. 

Everyone has a place they think of as home. Your first home is usually your parent’s house and you still think of it as home when you go away to school or move out to make your fortune in the world. Yet gradually your perspective shifts so that your new location and arrangements are identified as home. Yet prisoners and those in the military in foreign lands will never think of those places as home. The very concept of home is a desirable place of safety and security. I promised my children that I would go and prepare a place for them. This is your home in heaven and it is ready for you even if you are not ready for it. It is not familiar to you as no eye has seen it, yet you have my word on its existence and suitability for your eternal habitation. Do you long for it as much as the prisoner and the deployed solider long for their homes?