Dale Cresap's blog

My apostles asked for and got holy boldness to proclaim my message. Does this seem like an unusual concept to you? For you are more familiar with conventional boldness which can border on arrogance and overbearing obnoxiousness. Holy boldness must be consistent with a broken spirit and a contrite heart. David said that he would not boast in himself but would make his boast in the Lord. So holy boldness brings two concepts together that cannot be joined otherwise. You can conduct yourself in a state of personal humility while you declare the awesome glory of your redeemer. 

Do you see authority as a matter of position, title, and office? In most cases officials in government and in corporations rule because of assigned positions. Yet haven’t you encountered people who have an inherent sense of authority even though they hold no office or title? John the Baptist was a man outside of the religious hierarchy of his day. He was a man sent from God, crying in the wilderness. He was poor but those who saw him recognized my hand upon him and his spiritual and moral authority. I paid high compliments to him myself. You don’t need a title conferred by someone else to serve me. 

Are you diligent in the way you work at your job? It is possible to put on appearances that your performance at work is better than it really is, just as it is possible to give the appearance that you are better than you really are in other areas of your life. Yet my word teaches you to serve your employer the same way you would serve me, with diligence and good will to the best of your abilities. You may argue that you see differences between your employer and me, but that is not a valid excuse. Wouldn’t you want to work for me if you had the chance? You do. If you view yourself as working for me it makes any job a transcendent career. 

Do you want to do my will? Do you face major decision points in your life, such as what career to pursue and whom to marry, and think that if you make these decisions correctly then you are living according to my will? Doing my will is not so easily reduced to a selection process. You describe your faith as a relationship with me, and you are right. Then doing my will has a relational aspect, of following me, walking with me, and abiding in me. The big decisions are important, but not as much as you think. Even if you have made some bad choices you can be in my perfect will now. 

Do you pray? Do you pray about how to pray? My disciples asked me to teach them to pray, and I did. You have your requests, but if you are determined to be submitted to me and obedient to my will, then do you think you should seek direction from me before you jump in to submit your list of requests? I invite you to come boldly before me to ask whatever you want in my name and receive it in faith, but even in this I want you to be a seeker and a student, looking to me that you may follow my lead and inquiring of me that you may truly pray according to my will. Then your fervent and effectual prayers will accomplish much. 

Are you familiar with the Ten Commandments? This was an early expression of my dealing with people, but it was not the first. For the Ten Commandments were preceded by the One Commandment, that you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You may think this is not an issue for you since you don’t have access to such a tree. Yet don’t dismiss this matter lightly. Whenever you lean on your own understanding rather than including me in your thoughts and conclusions you eat from this tree. My invitation for us to reason together was not only meant for sin. I want you to seek divine wisdom in everything you do, and make it freely available to you.

My word teaches you that the afflictions of the righteous are many, but that I deliver you out of them all. Which of these two aspects do you focus on? Would you rather have a life with no afflictions and no need for deliverance? A strenuous life of endurance may not appeal to you, but if you study the principles of my Kingdom you will see this is an established pattern. This too is an expression of my love and grace, for there is no growth and strength without resistance, physically and spiritually. Don’t you see this manifested in people you admire? And besides you do have my promise to be delivered out of them. 

Have you ever heard it said that there are no stupid questions? This is not true. The Bible says that foolish and unlearned questions engender strife. I faced some stupid questions myself. Was it this man or his parents that sinned that he was born blind? In this case the answer was neither, but that the glory of God may be revealed in him. Don’t let your opponents dictate the terms of the debate. The right questions must precede the right answers. When the wrong questions are being asked, you are free to reformulate them. I frequently turned stupid questions into questions with redemptive purpose, and you can too. 

Do you regard yourself as successful and consider yourself happy if the circumstances of your life are pleasant and favorable? Who wouldn’t choose to be affluent and not afflicted if they had the choice? Yet this places too much emphasis on things external to you. For these things can change with no change to your real identity. The essence of your faith and identity are internal, as I said that my Kingdom was within you. Those who derive their sense of worth and purpose from their possessions you regard as shallow and rightly so. Basing it on status and achievement is no real improvement but I offer you the depth of a real identity in me. 

Do you like to travel? For most people, travel involves a round trip, because they have a home they return to. You find comfort and stability there. Yet I have called you to follow me, and this is a one way trip. Committing yourself to me gave you a home in heaven, and even though you return to the same place here to sleep at night, you have become a stranger and a sojourner in this world. And so you are on a journey to a place where you have never been, and there is no going back. Do you understand the depth of this commitment? It is called a walk of faith with good reason. You only get there by trusting me to guide you.