Dale Cresap's blog

If you had to hire someone for a position that was so important that everything depended on it, what would you use for selection criteria? Would you want the most focused, rational, capable person with good judgment you could find? What if someone applied for the position and said they had a dream and immediately did what the dream indicated, and then they had another dream, and did the same, and so on. Would you hire this person? I did. Consider the story of Joseph who was my surrogate father on earth. Who else would have chosen him for this role? My ways are higher than yours, and I confound the wisdom of the wise. I hired you too.

What do you get out of the story of the Good Samaritan? Is it no surprise to you that he stopped to help because he was, after all, a Good Samaritan? This has become a common term and you even have laws by this name. But my story was in response to the question of who is my neighbor, and it did have a point. The Samaritans held false beliefs. Do you live in a world where people who believe the right things do the right things? But that is not the real world. How do you respond in a situation where those who believe the wrong things do the right things? The point of the story is that you should be accepting and approving.

Do you see your spiritual life as a journey? This implies that you will not be in the same location you were yesterday. This is obvious when you are taking a conventional journey. Do you see that the same concept applies to a spiritual journey? This must involve letting go of something and leaving it behind. Are there aspects of your spiritual practices or belief structures that no longer serve you and have become burdens rather than blessings? If every time you attend church you only get reassurance that you were right all along, then you are not being given challenge for advancement, and it is time to move on.

Are you busy? Does it seem that everyone is? Are you busy from things you choose or burdens imposed on you from without? Are the things that keep you busy giving you life and fulfilling your sense of destiny and meaning, or do they leave you feeling exhausted and discouraged? My yoke is easy and my burden is light, so it should give you life rather than making you weary. Do your friends ever use the excuse that they are too busy to spend time with you? Do you ever use the same excuse with yourself about the amount of time you spend with me? You can be busy in serving me and at the same time avoid me.

Do you think I have completed the good work I have begun in you? No, but you have my  promise that I will. Have you ever looked back and realized that I was at work on problems that you didn’t realize you had? There are some things that you can only see in hindsight. Can you see the implications for your current state? Can you see by inference that you now have other issues that you will not be aware of until some future time when they are resolved? Can you also see that your effectiveness at self-improvement is limited if you are not even aware of the areas that need work? Do not be discouraged. I will complete the good work I have begun in you.

Do you lead a considered life or do you just deal with whatever comes your way in the moment? I told a story about a king who intended to build a tower but ran out of money, and another king who should have considered his prospects of winning against his enemy given the relative sizes of their armies. Do you have a plan for your life? So do I, and if yours does not conform to mine you should choose mine instead. In any context, including this one, you are better off to lead a more considered and intentional life. Any situation can be viewed from successively higher levels of understanding.

Have you ever gone somewhere and felt that you had been there before although you know you had not? The term for this is déjà vu. Do you think this is just a trick of your mind? I hold your life in my hands, and everywhere you go I have already been before. Some things you have not encountered before may seem familiar because they are part of the spiritual path I have prepared you for. You live in a temporal realm, but I live outside of time, but also within you. Have I not promised to prepare the way for you? If you understand this you can have confidence and peace as you move forward.

Do you consider the work of evangelism to be daunting? Consider the magnitude of the task. You are asking people to renounce their false ways and turn their lives over to me. You don’t have a promotional budget of millions to make this happen. Does it seem impossible? Yet you are not alone.  It is the Holy Spirit that convicts of sin. Have you ever tried to do this on your own? How did it work out? I ask you to take part in an effort of ultimate significance, and your part is important. Never forget that but also never forget that this is a team effort and that I am doing the heavy lifting.

What are your thoughts about my return? Are you trying to figure out when it will be? You should know better. Are you preparing for it? What would that involve? Blessed are those who do and teach my commandments. Blessed are those who are awake and aware, with their loins girded and their lamps burning, when their Lord returns, for he shall commend them. John the Baptist was a voice crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord. He played an important part in my first advent. This role is just as important for my second advent, the position is open,  and I am taking applications. Is this a job you want to apply for?

What does righteousness mean to you? Regular church attendance and no sex outside of marriage? These are good things, but is there more to it than that? Do you consider all the people who follow these to be righteous? My church was not built until after I walked this earth, but I affirmed the principle of fellowship and also the sanctity of marriage. I spoke of many other things as well, to encompass all of life, including kindness, generosity, and love. The Pharisees were ‘righteous’ as described above, but I said that unless your righteousness exceeded theirs you would not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled.