Dale Cresap's blog

Do you wish you had time for a spiritual life? You do. Many people assume that you can only do this if you have an abundance of leisure time that you are free to structure yourself. Do you feel that your own life is hectic and demanding in comparison? You do have some influence over the pace of your life, but you have real demands as well. Don’t be discouraged. I will come to you disguised as the life you currently lead. So it isn’t so much a matter of trying to escape your current life as listening to see what I am saying to you in the midst of it, and how I am using your current circumstances to complete my work in you.

Have you heard it said that you are judged by the company you keep? The counterpart to this is that you are judged by the company you avoid. I was judged in both ways. How often does your daily life put you in contact with the least of these? Do you prefer the company of those who are bright and affluent and popular, and structure your life to seek them out? Yet it was not these that I was referring to when I said, that when you had done it unto them you had done it unto me. It is more blessed to give than to receive. If you want more blessings, structure your life to have more opportunities for giving.

An ancient mystic said, God is within us, but we are outside of ourselves. Do you consider self-alienation to be a serious problem? Would you be aware of it if it were? I pronounced woes on the Pharisees publicly for being blind guides. Then others inquired of me if they were blind also. Does this strike you as an odd question? I told them that if they claimed to see their blindness would remain. Does this seem like an odd answer? Yet I spoke the truth. What can you learn from this? Hold your beliefs with humility and don’t be afraid to revisit them, for now you know in part, and I have more to teach you.

Do you see me in everyone you see? If you accept the premise that everyone is made in my image then you should see some resemblance of me in everyone if you look hard enough. Some people make this easy for you through their lives of devotion to me, and the light and love that emanate from them. Other people make this hard for you because of the lack of those qualities. But is the problem in this case their lack of favorable presentation or your lack of discerning vision? You can’t change them to make my presence in them more obvious, but you can ask me to give you eyes to see.

Is it important to you to be right all the time? Yet you realize this is an unrealistic goal. If you can’t be right all the time, then at least you can improve the quality of your errors. Have you ever made critical judgments of others that turned out to be false? Is this a greater embarrassment and cause for remorse than giving people favor and the benefit of the doubt and being wrong for doing that? As much as you would like to render prefect judgment, only I am capable of doing that. Do you think that I err on the side of mercy and grace? Is this a judgment of you or me? As long as you know in part resolve to let your errors be on the side of love and grace.

 Do you have a vocation? In modern terms this is the way you earn your living. Or in some circles, it is the type of school you go to if you don’t go to college. Earlier generations understood this term in a different way. To them a vocation was a life mission given by God. It could have been something with an income attached, but not necessarily. The most important thing you do in your life doesn’t have to be the way you earn your money. It doesn’t need to have a title and office connected with it either. But if it is an assignment from me you will find it to have meaning and purpose, to be satisfying and fulfilling, and it will bear fruit in the Kingdom of God.

Do you see things in yourself you would like to change, that you would like to improve? Do you think I will love you if you change? This is an attitude of legalism rather than grace, but it is the default mode of human thinking. This is the reverse of transcendent logic. You can change because I love you now. If you receive my love and walk with an awareness of it you will have confidence in the way I value your intrinsic worth, you will know that you are held securely, and you will be able to live in an undefended state. These are the precursors to the real transformative change I offer you.

The Bible speaks of Pharisees. Do you know of anyone that goes by this name? Do you know of anyone who acts like this even if they don’t claim the title? How many Pharisees actually read the Bible? These things were written for you, not them. There are certain temptations that are characteristic of the unsaved outside the church, and others that those belonging to the religious establishment are prone to. Are you as aware of these as you are of the problems of ‘sinners’? I am building my church and I want you to be a part of it. I also want you to be aware of traps you will encounter so you may judge yourself and not be judged, or trapped.

You turn on a light switch and the lights come on, even if there is considerable distance between the switch and the light fixture. In most cases, the wires are installed so they are not visible, but the cause and effect relationship between the switch and the light coming on give you confidence that they are connected. Are there any other connections that exist even though they are not visible? What about spiritual connections? Can there be spiritual connections between people? Between cause and effect? These connections are as real as the wiring in your house. Blessed are those who have eyes to see them.

You refer to the last book of the Bible as Revelations. Do you think that term applies to the entire Bible and not just the last book? Presenting information as revealed truth is a strong claim to make. You expect everything else to be based on references to original sources or some sort of validation. Scripture claims to stand alone and be an original source itself with no need to refer back to anything else. So it comes down to your willingness to accept its claims of truth. Everyone is free to make this decision for themselves, but only those who receive it as the words of life will eat the fruit thereof.