Is It I or Is It You
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 shared many revelations of spiritual truth with me, and I want to share them with you. In today’’s broadcast, we explore the distinction between the human will and the divine will.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
Is It I or Is It You?
Jesus said, "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of Truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak." John, Chapter 16, Verse 13
Brothers and sisters, we would like to know when we run into an obstacle, how do we tell whether this obstacle is something we need to try to overcome or whether we are pursuing something that is not God's will? To help us gain insight into this question, let us examine three material analogies.
A road is being constructed, and all is well until the construction of the road is halted because of a mountain barrier. It is apparent that some other method must be used to continue the road, which had been proceeding on course without any significant challenges. But an obstacle appeared. Should the engineers abandon their efforts, or should they consider other possible ways to overcome the obstacle? As they ponder the possible solutions to the problem, they consider several possibilities, including abandoning the project altogether. But too much time and effort has been applied to the project. Next, they consider making a detour around the mountain, but this will cause further delay and expense and will add considerable distance between the two cities which the road was designed to shorten. Then they consider building a road around the mountain itself, but this option was also costly and time-consuming as well as dangerous. Finally they decide to tunnel through the mountain. Although this option carries considerable risk, ultimately it is the best choice to make.
For thousands of years, man observed birds in flight and dreamed of flying himself. Through many errors and dead ends, man experimented, but it was not until he discovered the underlying principle of flight that made it possible for him to actually fly. As we can see this required quite a bit of time and effort, persistence, and finally discovery until he was actually able to fly, aided by a machine. But we can see that the ability to fly was a potential to start with, else we would not have been able to achieve it.
The finally analogy is attempting to undertake an impossible tasks, those that have no potential for becoming actualized. These tasks have no basis in either science or religion and therefore can never become a reality.
Now back to the thrust of our original question of whether an obstacle in our path signals that we should persist in our efforts or abandon them. In the material world, we often discover physical laws accidentally. Subsequent to their discovery, we can manipulate these laws to bring about new discoveries. All of our material achievements have followed some previously discovered law that was applied in a different way.
In the pursuit of material discoveries, we have to abide by the material laws of God. These laws determine whether something is possible. All the modern conveniences and time-saving devices have come about because we have discovered their underlying laws. So if we are pursuing something that violates known physical laws, it is our will that we are pursuing and not God’’s will. In the material realm, we pursue God’’s will by discovering and obeying physical laws.
In the spiritual realm, there are laws governing spiritual reality, but these laws are liberating unlike material laws, what are limiting. In the material realm, all can enjoy the discoveries of the material status. This is unlike in the spiritual realm, where spiritual laws depend upon our willingness to abide by the Father’’s will. And this will is personalized in his Son, who perfectly demonstrates it to us. We are to love one another as he loves us. If we do this, we escape from the limitation of the selfish animal nature and expand our consciousness so that we can enjoy the indescribable pleasures and joys of consciously living in the Father’’s presence. We enter the realm of eternal life, and we can enjoy this life even while we tread the path of a material existence, as so eloquently testified by the fruits of the spirit that emanate from us, with their ever-increasing meanings. This is eternal life.
It follows, then, that when we do the Father’’s will, it is not a matter of quantity but of quality. The material laws of God tell us what things can be done and how to go about doing it; but the spiritual laws of the heavenly Father tells us the manner in which we should treat others as we do these things. The means are just as important as the ends. When we not only use our will to discover the material things of the Father but allow our animal natures to dictate how we treat one another, we can be sure that it is us. But when we allow our spiritual nature to determine how we treat each other, we can be equally sure that it is the Father’’s will.
This concludes today's message on understanding whether we are pursuing our will or the Father’’s will. 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
Is It I or Is It You
