Adversity: The Platform for Spiritual Realization
Greetings, brothers and sisters. This is Dr. James Perry continuing with our series where we seek to explore the deeper meanings of our relationship with Jesus Christ. Over the years, the heavenly Father has shared many revelations of spiritual truth with me, and I want to share them with you. In today’’s broadcast, we consider adversity as the platform for spiritual realization.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
Adversity: The Platform for Spiritual Realization
Jesus said, ". . . In the world you shall have tribulation. But be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." John, Chapter 16, Verse 33
"Stars are best discerned from the lonely isolation of experiential depths, not from the illuminated and ecstatic mountain tops."
Brothers and sisters, we want to share some insights into how we realize that we are sons and daughters of the heavenly Father. When Jesus sojourned in the flesh, he told us that we were indeed sons and daughters of the heavenly Father and that we could experience this truth daily by submitting our wills to the heavenly Father. Within our minds, there exists a joint creation of the material mind and the divine spirit. This creation is the soul, the son and daughter of the heavenly Father, living its first life in the flesh. This creation is at first in embryonic form; we perceive its relationship to the heavenly Father using faith. The divine Son, Jesus, also gave all who believe in him the power to move from the embryonic form of status to the active status of sons and daughters of the heavenly Father.
Adversity is the platform for realizing that we are spiritual sons and daughters of the heavenly Father. Faith is needed to mount this platform, step by step. Faith is the essential quality needed to transmute spiritual potential into actuality, to change the embryonic soul into an active son or daughter of the heavenly Father. Since faith plays such a vital role, let us consider it in detail.
Faith in its simplest definition is the whole-hearted belief in a reality that is not apparent to the material mind. Now this wholehearted belief in this reality marshals all the forces of self, including desire and will , and points them in the direction of the reality that is pursued. If the object of faith is a bonafide spiritual reality such as the relationship with the heavenly Father, then faith creates a consciousness of this reality within the soul, and this reality is experienced. The experience with this new reality allows us to realize that we are indeed sons and daughters of the heavenly Father.
Faith is a gift that is given to us by the heavenly Father so that we can know him and experience the liberating joy and security of being his sons and daughters. "Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights." By exercising faith wholeheartedly and submitting our will to the Father’’s will, we become conscious that we are his sons and daughters. This exercise of faith changes our mode of living. As the lyricist said, when he was immersed in the water, he came up full of love. He had become a new person. Once we are faith born again, we come up with a new reality. The old reality is still there but it is now subject to the Father’’s will, and the Father’’s character increasingly dominates our moral and spiritual reality. This faith dominates all aspect of the sons and daughters of the Father.
When it appears within the mind, faith runs into its arch enemy--doubt. Doubt challenges the validity of the ever increasing divine values and meanings that appear in the soul and the mind. Doubt is a function of the material mind and remains skeptical of anything that is not experienced by the material mind.
All the faith born children of the Father are actuated by this love and dominated by mercy. They have fully identified with their spiritual birth right, and behave accordingly. Their chief delight is to reveal the Father’’s character through his Son, Jesus to his spiritual brothers and sisters, some of whom have not as yet being born of the spirit.
"And when such a life of spirit guidance is freely and intelligently accepted, there gradually develops within the human mind a positive consciousness of divine contact and assurance of spirit communion; sooner or later "the Spirit bears witness with your spirit that you are a child of God." ““Already has your own divine spirit told you of your kinship to God so that the record testifies that the Spirit bears witness ""with your spirit,"" not to your spirit." The presence of the Father’’s spirit actually indwelling the human mind is the testimony of the Father’’s spirit that we are the children of God. "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the children of God." Such a statement is true because the presence of the Father signifies that we have been recreated spiritually, albeit there remains the important factor of continuing development. Under the three-fold influence of the Father’’s spirit, the Son’’s spirit, and the Holy Spirit, the soul proceeds to be born again. When the Spirit observes this "born again" experience, it testifies with the Father’’s spirit that we are the children of God.
"The consciousness of the spirit domination of a human life is presently attended by an increasing exhibition of the characteristics of the Spirit in the life reactions of such a spirit-led mortal, ""for the fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance."" Such spirit-guided and divinely illuminated mortals, while they yet tread the lowly paths of toil and in human faithfulness perform the duties of their earthly assignments, have already begun to discern the lights of eternal life as they glimmer on the faraway shores of another world; already have they begun to comprehend the reality of that inspiring and comforting truth, ""The kingdom of God is not meat and drink but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit."" And throughout every trial and in the presence of every hardship, spirit-born souls are sustained by that hope which transcends all fear because the love of God is shed abroad in all hearts by the presence of the divine Spirit."
"You cannot perceive spiritual truth until you feelingly experience it, and many truths are not really felt except in adversity." It is within the experience of adversity that we really spiritually realize that we are the sons and daughters of God and the extent of our growth. It is within the experience of adversity that the Father reveals himself to us and through us to our brothers and sisters. It is within the experience of adversity that we reveal ourselves to the Father and to our brothers and sisters, for adversity is the true mirror which we view ourselves as we really are and not as we would like to be or pretend to be. It is within the experience of adversity that our souls are tested. It is here where we learn first-hand for ourselves if we are really dedicated and consecrated to doing the Father’’s will. As we continue to abide by the Father’’s will and the fruits of the spirit continue to flow, we become possessed of undeniable evidence and experience that we are indeed the sons and daughter of the heavenly Father. The spiritual performance of the soul in the experience of adversity is the self-realization that we are the sons and daughters of the heavenly Father.
This concludes today's message on why adversity is the platform for spiritual realization. We hope you find something in this message to ponder and pray about as you go about your day.
Until next time, this is Dr. James Perry
Your Kingdom Come; Your Will Be Done!
Inspirational Messages of Light
By Dr. James Perry
Adversity: The Platform for Spiritual Realization
