Submitted by Dale Cresap on February 19, 2019 - 11:51
How do you respond to injustices and other wrongs that you see in the world around you? Do they fill you with a sense of outrage? What other response do you make? Your rage does not benefit you or solve the problem, and it doesn’t improve the situation to refer to your rage as righteous indignation. Your time is always ready to act. You can take a positive step, no matter how small, to resolve the situation. Do this and you may find that a constructive response diminishes your felt need for outrage. You can give to a cause, clean up a mess, or write a letter with peace in your heart.
Submitted by Dale Cresap on February 18, 2019 - 09:42
Are you familiar with the ‘fight or flight’ response? It is instinctive when you feel threatened to stand your ground or run, yet these responses don’t always work for you. Do you value spiritual growth? How do you go about it? Do you have a plan and a schedule, and work your plan according to your schedule? Have you seen others fail with this approach? How successful has it been for you? I have a plan for your spiritual growth too. Would you like to follow mine rather than yours? Yet how can you find it? It is easier than you think. If you quit fighting me or running away I will find you.
Submitted by Dale Cresap on February 17, 2019 - 15:51
Do you look at life as a continuous progression of improvement? How has this worked out for you? How do you deal with setbacks that occur along the way? Do you fiercely resist anything that seems like losing ground? Have you considered that this is part of the process of ascent? Even I was crucified and descended into the earth before I arose. I tell you not to think of your trials as strange intruders but to welcome them as friends. I did not say that this is easy to do. But if you put all your effort into running from them you will not receive the benefits that can come from them that are available no other way.
Submitted by Dale Cresap on February 16, 2019 - 20:25
Do you encounter people who blame me when things go wrong in their lives? They want to know why they lost their job or their marriage failed when there is no obvious reason. They are looking for cosmic justice and think they deserve better, so this is a thinly veiled accusation that I am not treating them well. Have you noticed that such accusations tend to come from the well-educated and well-off? They have had every advantage in life compared to others, especially when viewed on a world-wide scale across the span of history. Here is your assignment: count your blessings and advantages and then ask why about them.
Submitted by Dale Cresap on February 15, 2019 - 09:39
Do you see forgiveness as the payment of a debt? This imagery comes straight from the Bible in the story of the ten thousand talents. Do you think of debts as things that must be repaid? This is a good principle to follow in your finances, but the point of the story is that sin forgiveness is something that cannot be paid back. Yet does it seem right to accept this with no response? What can you do? Are you familiar with the concept of paying it forward? The request in the prayer model I provided is to be forgiven of your debts as you forgive your debtors. Do so unto the least of these and I will receive it as being unto me.
Submitted by Mark Virkler on February 14, 2019 - 14:23
This is some feedback after praying through session 5 of “Prayers That Heal the Heart” yesterday morning as I prepared to head to work in New Zealand. The issue I was seeking freedom from was "striving," which is probably about the 20th issue God has brought me through since I first was taught under Mark Virkler in Kona, Hawaii January 2017 at Crossroads DTS.
Submitted by Dale Cresap on February 14, 2019 - 14:21
Do you know that believers have a formal and everyone has a functional theology? Your formal theology is how well you would do on a test of basic doctrine. Most churches do an excellent job of providing instruction in formal theology. Functional theology is how you live your life. Everyone does this in some manner, whether they make any profession of faith or not. Ideally these two are congruent and consistent, and your formal theology will make you a better person. Have you met people who make no profession of faith, but their lives are consistent displays of admirable virtue? Which of these do you think is more important?
Submitted by Dale Cresap on February 13, 2019 - 13:03
Are you diligent about serving me? I am grateful for your work in my vineyard. Are you also diligent about the transformative work I am doing in your life? I care deeply about this too. These are not contradictory goals. In a perfect world each supports the other. Yet church can be a place to hide from me as well as a place to serve me. Do you find it easier to devote yourself to service tasks rather than facing unfinished business in your own life? I promised to complete the good work I begun in you. Don’t neglect your own vineyard while you are working in mine, for I am working in you as well as through you.
Submitted by Dale Cresap on February 12, 2019 - 08:26
Do you have a safe? Your bank does even if you don’t. This is a sturdy rigid vault where valuables are stored, with a secure locked door, typically with a combination lock. Do you look at me the same way, that if you just get the combination right you can open the door and get the treasure inside? Many people look at me this way but it is a faulty image. Safe combinations are secret, but my ways are open. Safes are made to keep people out, but I delight in opening my hand and satisfying the desire of every living thing, sending rain and sun on the just and unjust. Don’t think that you or anyone else needs a secret code or manipulation to gain access to me.
Submitted by Mark Virkler on February 11, 2019 - 20:25
Memorials are reminders so we never forget what God has done and are constantly encouraged in the Lord. Following is a testimony of a memorial Rebecca Colucci has created in a room in her home.
