In the Arms of Faith
Greetings and good morning 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 seek to understand the meaning of being in the arms of faith.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
In the Arms of Faith
"For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: As it is written, the just
shall live by faith." Romans, Chapter 1 Verse 17.
Brothers and sisters, in today's broadcast we consider the security of faith. We have had a great deal
to say about faith in past discussions, and I dare say we shall have even more to say as we continue
this spiritual journey, for there is no part of this spiritual journey that we can make without the
exercise of faith. Now inherent in our whole concept of being in relationship with God the Father
is the truth of his communication with us. And if the Father can communicate with us, then surely
we can communicate with him. And this is evident as we shall see later.
As we strive for greater and greater spiritual victories, we also must exercise faith at greater and
greater levels. Now this faith is given to us by our heavenly Father, and its purpose is to function in
the place of our immature spiritual vision. Since we have not spiritually developed to the point where
we can see these things of the spirit as it were with our natural eyes, faith becomes our magnifying
glass that allows us to see the things of the spirit. But faith does more than that, it is also our power
for spiritual achievement. It is the one thing that once within its grasp, it does not let go. The only
thing that can make faith let go is our free will decision. The exercise of faith is subject to our wills.
Seemingly we can think of a thousand and one things where this faith has led us astray. But this is
not the case. It is not the faith that has led us astray, but it is its misuse that has led us astray.
Faith is a pure spiritual quality, there being no defects in it. When it is properly used, it also becomes
the assurance of spiritual experience. Faith will grasp whatever the holder can believe with his whole
heart. So that being the case, what precautions shall we use in making sure that we do not lodge our
faith with an error? Faith will grasp an error of belief just as it will grasp a bonafide spiritual reality.
So if this be the case, how can we tell when our faith is misplaced? Faith can only reveal that which
is true, beautiful, and good. Therefore error--being neither true, beautiful, nor good--cannot be
realized. Faith can only reveal the values and meanings of truth, beauty and goodness, and as they
are united in divine love. Faith can only reveal those things that are part of our spiritual relationship
with the Father.
In our efforts to prevent the erroneous use of faith, we must first of all make sure the object of it is
spiritual. Faith is spiritual and therefore its object must be spiritual. Second, we must realize that
faith functions in accuracy only in relationship to the values and meanings of the Fatherhood of God
and the brotherhood of man. Third and last, faith has to be tied to the Spirit of Truth. The Spirit of
Truth embodies the perfect relationship between the Father and his sons and daughters. Once these
criteria are satisfied, the holder of faith can rest secure in its arms. Wholehearted belief is necessary
in order to rest securely in the arms of faith. "Belief has attained the level of faith when it motivates
life and shapes the mode of living. The acceptance of a teaching as true is not faith; that is mere
belief. Neither is certainty nor conviction faith. A state of mind attains to faith levels only when it
actually dominates the mode of living. Faith is a living attribute of genuine personal religious
experience." "Belief is always limiting and binding; faith is expanding and releasing. Belief fixates,
faith liberates. But living religious faith is more than the association of noble beliefs; it is more than
an exalted system of philosophy; it is a living experience concerned with spiritual meanings, divine
ideals, and supreme values; it is God-knowing and man-serving."
Faith grows and soon reaches supreme levels in response to the desire for supreme spiritual values
and meanings. And this is so because when the holder of faith makes a decision to do the Father's
will, this is a supreme decision, and the decision to do the Father's will is the finding of the Father
in spirit. And when the believer decides to do the Father's will, he qualifies for that peace that passes
all understanding. Jesus says, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world
giveth." "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." Thus the Father has found his son,
and the son has found his Father, and they speak to one another. And this is the exchange of material
turmoil in the soul for spiritual peace.
The Father reveals the personality values and meanings to his son, and the son has his values and
meanings of his relationship with the Father elevated and exalted. These ever increasing spiritual
meanings revealed in the mind of the son is the experiencing of the personality values of the Father.
In short, the exchange of spiritual values and meanings is the spiritual communication between the
Father and his son. Spiritual communication must perforce take place between the spiritual aspects
of the son and his spirit Father, not between the material mind and the spirit Father.
And this spiritual communication occurs even though the material mind is not aware of it, and the
impact and validity of this communication is shown in the transformation of the son's character into
image of the character of the Father through His Son. The more the son communicates with his
Father, the more he becomes more like his Father and less like himself in nature. And this is not
strange to us in the material sense, for we know that we are influenced by being in the constant
presence of our material parents and become like them--more or less--by the identification process.
And all of this happens not so much because we actually verbally talk back and forth but because
this process grasps the loyalties of the parent and stamps them onto the character of the loyal child.
A rebellious child is another matter.
Faith that has reached supreme levels is both actual and potential. Even though time and space
prevents the son from factually standing in the presence of the heavenly Father on Paradise, no such
barriers exist when it comes to experiencing the values and meanings of this experience. When this
faith is allowed to possess the individual completely and when it satisfies the spiritual requirement
in its intent, then the holder of this faith, now the exalted faith son of the heavenly Father, then
boldly represents the Father's character through the Spirit of Truth--in fact he becomes a
representative to his brothers and sister. And this representation is true, beautiful, and good.
Finally we come to the question of how we know that we are possessed by this faith and that we are
representing the Father? Are we being presumptuous in any way? We have implied the answer to
these questions, but now we would like to express them more concretely, even though we realize that
the material mind, though finding our argument reasonable, will still be plagued by doubt but still
may accept the ruling of our spiritualized will as final. "The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit
that we are the children of God." But what is it that the Spirit is bearing witness to? The Spirit views
the same thing that our spirit views. It sees the soul of man in the image of His Son, Jesus, and it is
this agreement that causes the Spirit to bear witness.
And this image of the Son is further verified by the fruits of such a soul, for they are love, faith,
goodness, gentleness, temperance, meekness, long suffering, peace and joy. This display of spiritual
performance by the soul is witnessed both by the Spirit and the spirit, and they both concur that this
is a son of God. Second, the meanings of such a display of spiritual performance is appreciated and
understood by the mind. The understanding of the meanings of spiritual performance is the
experience of spiritual value, even the supreme value, God the Father. And finally, spiritual faith
tells the conscious mind that this is so, that the soul of man is indeed a son of God. Such a son does
not hesitate to say that he and the Father are one, for it is only by being one with the Father that the
Father can freely flow through him. After all, this is a son in whom the Father is well pleased.
This concludes today's message on understanding meaning of being in the arms of faith. 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!
In the Arms of Faith
