Dale Cresap's blog

Do you speak to me with formalized terms and posture? If by this you intend to display deference, respect and honor that is good, but I spoke to Moses as a man speaks to his friend. I also said that I referred to you as my friends, and this is not how you speak to your friends. You show respect for them in the content of what you say, and your attentiveness to their words, and the deliberate purpose with which you seek their company. You can show respect for me the same way. You would be amazed at the range of manner of address that I am willing to accept, and I am not eager to impose a specific format on you. Use a manner that you find comfortable, just do it often. 

I taught you to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit those in prison, for inasmuch as you did it unto the least of these you did it unto me. Do you think this is an exhaustive list? It was an illustration appropriate to the time it was spoken, but the same principle could be expanded to speak to a modern audience. If I needed a ride or my car had a dead battery or was stuck in ice and snow, would you come to my assistance? The situations mentioned in my word are universal and enduring, and just as appropriate today. Yet if you take this to heart you may find additional opportunities to be of assistance to those in need and I still consider it as ministering unto me. 

I declared plainly that my kingdom was not of this world, so there are two realms, and you belong to both. I taught my disciples to pray thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. This was a prayer to the Father, but it is you who live in these two realms, so you are in a position to merge them. You do this by representing the Kingdom of God on earth. I ascended into heaven so I am not here in the conventional sense, but you are here and I am in you. Don’t hide your light under a bushel but put it on a candlestick that it may give light to all around you. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify me. 

Do you find the work of the ministry to be strenuous effort? I did. It isn’t strenuous in the sense of physical exertion, but you know that emotional involvement can be taxing and this is an essential part of compassion. Yet this work is also refreshing in unexplainable ways. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, and when you minister unto the least of these you are doing it unto me, and receive the same benefit. I sent my disciples to go and get food, and when they came back they found me refreshed, for I had feasted on meat they knew not of. This same refreshment is available to you as you serve me by laboring in my vineyard and harvest. 

Do you respond to people the way they respond to you? Yet I have called you to a higher standard. For my word says that even the heathen are good to those who are good to them, and teaches you to love even those who are mean to you that you may be the children of your Father in heaven who loves all. If you treat people the way they treat you it requires that you judge them. This is inherently wrong even before you proceed to let their behavior determine yours, which forfeits your own moral agency. You do not walk in liberty unless you act unilaterally, choosing from within to do good to others regardless of what they do to you. 

Do you usually associate peace with pleasant circumstances and distress with agitation and strife? Yet have you ever felt calm about a situation in which you would expect to be unsettled? Your mind and your spirit may not agree about the seriousness of a situation. Your mind may consider true circumstances, yet potential risks are not always realized. Which indication do you trust? I have promised you peace that surpasses understanding. Yet have you also ever felt a sense of alert when there was no apparent danger? Turn to me and learn to be led by my Spirit, and I will keep you calm in the face of calamity and warn you of dangers unseen. 

A witness can only testify to what he has seen and heard himself. Anything else is hearsay. A teacher can relate the lessons of history, but is most effective teaching from firsthand experience. You have seen this difference already in the instruction you have received. My audiences marveled at the way I taught, as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Now you are in a position to teach others. Since you have observed this more effective method, go forth and use it yourself. You have your own narrative of life in me. You have authority in me to let your mouth speak out of the fullness of your heart. 

You know that my word gives a perfect standard of behavior. You do well to examine yourself according to the light of scripture and judge yourself. Yet one of the things it teaches is that you should not judge others, even according to the same standard. Have you ever read my word and found that it confirmed you in your own behavior and only pointed out the flaws in others? I would advise you to revisit it with a new perspective and revised approach. Guidance for movement from walking to driving to boating or flying involves continuous comparison to a standard and correction to maintain it. Without this you are lost, wandering, or adrift. 

Do you find that the activity level in the church and among Christians changes throughout the year? Do you find that attendance is down in the summer, and that meetings are cancelled and fewer seminars held? Can you predict this with high confidence? Yet can you also predict that I am always faithful, in season and out of season, in every season? If you are determined to follow me you may find some times more difficult than others to find those like-minded who will join you. Yet I promised that if you would seek for me with all your heart that you would find me, and this promise applies at all times and in all places. I don’t take the summer off. 

You are familiar with the concept of being on duty, such as a doctor or a soldier. Someone on duty isn’t necessarily working, but they are available should the need arise. Do you think of yourself as being on duty for me all the time? I told my disciples that my time had not yet come, but their time was always at hand. Do you think of yourself the same way? Normally those on duty rotate with others to provide relief from the burden and heightened sense of awareness it involves. Do you find it a burden to be on duty for me all the time? Yet my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Always be alert to the opportunities I bring you and they will give you life.