Daily Word - disciplines

Dale Cresap's picture

You know that certain habits and practices are beneficial for your health. These are not secrets but they can be a challenge to perform. As a result, do you assume that the healthy people you see are disciplined? For these things are under your control, as difficult as they can be. Do you also know that certain habits and practices are beneficial for your spiritual health? Yet these things are not under your control to the same degree. You can study the Bible and worship and pray. Will this make you more loving, compassionate, and empathetic? Do your part and then surrender to me and I will do my part in you. 

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Daily Word - held by truth

Dale Cresap's picture

Do you hold your beliefs with humility? Do you consider them to be absolute and eternal truth? Are these concepts in conflict? People whose beliefs differ from yours feel as strongly about theirs as you do about yours, and you have had the unpleasant experience of encountering people who hold different views without humility. If your beliefs really are what you consider them to be, then you do not hold them as much as you are held by them. Blessed are those who know eternal truth, for they did not figure it out on their own, and flesh and blood did not reveal it to them, but my Father in heaven. Therefore you can hold your beliefs with humility because you do not hold them. They hold you.

 

 

[I'm leaving town for a few days]

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Daily Word - optional offense?

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Have you ever had someone tell you not to take something personally? How else should you take it? My word pronounces woes upon those who bring offenses, and cause little ones to stumble. Yet your response to any statement will determine whether it is an observation or an offense, for offenses have a giver and a receiver, and in this case neither one is blessed. Be careful lest the things you say to others could be interpreted to have offensive intent, and assume the things they say to you were not meant to. Love on either side of the transaction will prevent an offense, and cover a multitude of sins. 

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Daily Word - resourceful

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Do you lament that you don’t have enough resources to do what you want to do? Do you know what it means to be resourceful? It means to find a way to do what you need to do with what you have on hand. It may involve creative uses for ordinary things. Rather than looking for more stuff, consider what you can do with what you have. Consider the story of the loaves and the fishes. There was not enough to begin with, but there was something. In the economy of God and in the power of the Spirit, limited resources can be miraculously multiplied. How resourceful can you be with what you have now? 

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Daily Word - thoughts

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Do you have a steady stream of thoughts in your head? Do you think of this stream as the essence of your identity? My word tells you to take every thought captive. If your thoughts are your true identity, then who is to take them captive? You are a spiritual being made in my image, and you are more than the sum of your thoughts. Your mind should be your servant rather than your master. It is not within you to direct your own steps, but I invite you to be led by the Spirit. If you do then your mind will be tuned to receive living and eternal truth, and I will be in all your thoughts. 

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Daily Word - Safe?

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Do you always play it safe? There are some risks that are reckless and foolhardy, but there are others that are reasonable. I have a destiny for you, but you will not find it if you always take the path of least resistance. I called Abraham to leave his comfortable surroundings to go to a place I would show him later. Your call may not be this dramatic, but there will be some features in common. Don’t mistake comfort and ease for safety. You are safe with me even if it forces you out of your familiar surroundings and routines. This is the only way you can grow. This is the only way to walk into your destiny. 

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Daily Word - abundant life and money

Dale Cresap's picture

I offer you abundant life. That includes the resources to carry it out. Do you assume this means an unlimited amount of money? Don’t confuse abundant life with abundant money. Haven’t you known people who were well off who led shallow and limited lives? I want you to learn the contentment of sufficiency. If you seek those things which are above, you will be glad to have enough resources to carry out the things that give meaning and purpose to your life. If you make money your goal as an end in itself, you will never have enough. It is still true that you cannot serve God and mammon. 

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Daily Word - other sheep

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Are you as accepting of those outside the Christian faith as I was of those outside the Jewish faith? I never rejected my own faith tradition, but I was never ordained into its official hierarchy either. Most of my critical statements were directed toward Jews. Have you noticed how accepting I was toward those outside? Consider the Centurion, the Syro-Phoenician woman, and the woman at the well, whom I accepted even though I had to correct some of her views. I told my disciples that I had other sheep who were not of this fold. They had no concept of this. Do you? This was not a one-time observation. It is an eternal truth. 

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