Improving Our Relationship with the Father
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 revealed many revelations of spiritual truth to me, and I want to share them with you. This
morning we ponder our lives as seek to understand how to improve our relationship with the
heavenly Father through His Son, Jesus.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
Improving our Relationship with the Father
"But without faith, it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that
he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Hebrews, Chapter 11, Verse
6.
Brothers and sisters, today we shall show how to improve our relationship with the heavenly Father
through His Son, Jesus. We shall show using some material analogies how this relationship is
improved. We shall offer some laws that govern the relationship as well as set the parameters of our
relationship with our heavenly Father, and though we realize that it is impossible to precisely
describe a spiritual transaction through intellectual means, we hope to give the consciousness a
further tool for achieving spiritual self actualization-divine perfection. We also offer some exercises
designed to help us to realize this improved relationship. We hope that this discussion will so inspire
our consciousness that we will be moved to grasp this faith spiritual reality by that unchallengeable
acid test: spiritual experience.
In any relationship, there exists at least two parties or two objects which are related in someway.
Sometimes the nature of the relationship is not clear and must be thought out and experimented with
until its nature is precise and reproducible. When scientists observe physical phenomena, they first
observe the phenomenon carefully, considering how it behaves. Having done that, they formulate
a theory to explain the behavior. That is, they try to find a true relationship between what they
observe and their intellectual understanding of it.
After formulation, the theory is tested to see if it conforms to all that is known about the phenomena
they have observed. If it does not, then they reformulate it, and retest it again. This process of
formulating, testing, and reformulating and testing goes on until they arrive at a precise definition
of the phenomenon intellectually that can be reproduced consistently. When they reach that point,
then they have discovered the truth of the phenomenon. They have discovered the laws governing
the phenomenon and can consistently reproduce it.
Now when we start out to do the Father's will through His Son, Jesus, we have begun a process that
will eventually also yield a true relationship in our understanding. As time passes, we become more
conscious of the process and are able to accurately establish a two- way relationship. We do this by
observing. We observe the effects of His will as we attempt to execute it. We then begin to
intellectually formulate how it works, what its parameters are. When our intellectual understanding
matches our observations, then we have established a true relationship between ourselves and the
Father. We can accurately predict how the Father through His Son behaves in a given situation. In
short, we know the Father's will. The Father's will is spiritual and manifests itself in the spiritual
arena of our lives.
We know that the Father's will is love and when we execute this will we manifest His love in our
lives. But this divine love must be demonstrated with intelligence and wisdom. This love is
manifested daily as we interact with one another. We gain skill as we practice revealing the Father's
love to our brothers and sisters. In the matter of improving our relationship with our Heavenly
Father, I suggest we take a spiritual value such as patience and select an object for its manifestation;
that is, we can choose some brother or sister with whom we interact daily and attempt to display
patience.
I use the word attempt because it reflects our role in displaying the divine values. Our role is simply
to desire and will that patience flow through us. "Ask and you shall receive." Ask the Father to
manifest this divine quality through us and observe its functioning. When it is successfully
transmitted, then we have established proof of the relationship with our Heavenly Father. As we have
become skillful in manifesting this divine quality, we improve our relationship with the Father by
that much more. The heavenly Father is spiritual and his personal reality is spiritual.
Finally we suggest that we use this process by selecting other divine qualities as well, such as mercy,
tolerance, faith, hope, and trust, moral stamina, and spiritual power. And as we apply these qualities
to some brother or sister, observe how they work. And as time goes by we will improve, thereby
improving our relationship with the heavenly Father. Soon we will begin to see these qualities in
others and will gain insight into the laws governing the Father's will, which we can then use as often
as needed. As one of the early followers of Jesus, Saint Augustine, said, "Love God and do as you
please."
This concludes today's message on understanding how to improve our relationship with the heavenly
Father. 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.
Inspirational Messages
By Dr. James Perry
Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done!
Improving Our Relationship with the Father
