Dale Cresap's blog

Do you agree with the premise that you should never back down or be silent if you are right? Is there ever a time to hold your peace if you are right? Joseph had dreams in which his brothers and even his father and mother bowed down to him. It turned out that he was right but he may have done better to keep them to himself. Mary was highly favored and chosen for a very special assignment, but she did well to keep these things to herself and ponder them in her heart. At the end of my life on earth I was offered the chance to defend myself against false accusations, but I turned down the opportunity. Have you ever considered that there are times to be silent even when you are right?

Would you lay down your life for me? I said that no man had greater love than to lay down his life for his friends. Would you lay down your life for the least of these? Many people who claim to be eager to lay down their lives for me become very choosy about how far this offer will extend. My word says that possibly someone would be willing to die for a great and noble person, but I commended my love to you in dying for you while you were yet a sinner. So will you lay down your life for the least of these? My word says that when you do these things for the least of these you have done them unto me. This applies just as much in this case.

Do you believe in the importance of unity? Do you know the fastest way to get it? Uniting in opposition to a common enemy can happen immediately and is the default human response. You can see this in any political party. This is the glue that holds many organizations together, but it is not the Christian approach to unity. For the Bible tells you to seek unity in the bond of peace. It is more difficult to obtain unity on the basis of love rather than opposition, but this is what you are called to. This is the distinctive that should set your unity apart from others. Can you obtain unity without a common enemy?

David was called a friend of God, and you understand that this is a high honor. This description is not limited to David; you too can be my friend. One of the last things I did on earth was to describe this level of friendship and open the door for it to my followers including those who would believe in me through their testimony. Do you believe that the friend of a friend is a friend? If you love me, love my people. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another. I prayed that they all may be one in me, including you and all my followers. I want you to be a friend of God’s people everywhere.

Have you heard it said that the best things in life are free? Even people who say this like money very much. So what would be the best things in life? Love, peace, joy, beauty, gratitude, kindness, generosity, favor, and more? Yet perhaps it would be more accurate to say these things are non-monetary, for to say these things are free is to imply that anyone can have them for the taking. Perhaps the best way to describe them is priceless, in the proper sense of the word. You can’t buy them with money, but if you want them you still have to seek those things which are above.

My word teaches you to treat the least of these as you would treat me. Consider my own humble origins. I started life as a homeless person. Nazareth was an inconsequential backwater that you wouldn’t know about had I not lived there. Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? (apparently yes). Who among you doesn’t try to associate and identify with the prestigious connections available? But not everyone can be famous. Do you see my story as one who rose above his origins and succeeded in spite of them? Can you consider that I succeeded because of them? Keep this in mind when you consider the least of these, for I am one of them.

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.