Living with the Spiritual Father
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 living with the spiritual Father.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
Living with the Spiritual Father
Jesus said, "If a man love me, he will keep my word: and my Father will love him, and we will come
unto him, and make our abode with him." John, Chapter 14, Verse 23.
Brothers and sisters, in today’s broadcast, we probe the truth of living with the spiritual Father. We
know that the Father lives in our minds and souls, and we would like to gather more insight into this
great and awesome truth. To think that the great infinite and eternal Father would actually live in our
minds and souls sounds too good to be true, but this is one of those times when a thing that seems
to be too good to true, is actually true. What great love the Father must have for his mortal children
that he would come and dwell in them. "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon
us, that we should be called the sons of God." To assists our minds in grasping this great truth of the
reality of the Father's love for us that he should live in us, we shall resort to a material analogy to
help us to grasp this great truth, and then move on to the ramification of such a great truth.
In most cases people live separate lives from each other. The families usually live in separate
dwelling places. There is no sharing of their lives on a day-to-day basis with other families. What
goes on in one family does not effect what goes on in another family. They gather for social
occasions and exchange fellowship with each other, but they remain separate units. The affairs of
each family are separate.
In a large city like New York, people live in apartment buildings. And even though they all live in
the same building, they have their own apartments. And each family is separate though they live in
the same building. People can live in the same building all of their lives and never get to know their
neighbors. They come and they go, and for all intents and purpose they may as well be living in a
separate building in a different city. No attempt is made to get to know the other occupants of the
building. They are truly isolated from each other. Occasionally more than one relative may be living
in the same building, and this may give rise to some social interactions between the two relatives.
As the saying goes, "there ain't no pity in the naked city." "Millions will watch you go down and not
lend a helping hand."
But in a family where there are intimate relationships, where there is a real family of parents and
children, this is truly a case of living together. Living together requires some social skills. The
children usually learn how to live in the family after being born into it. They gradually come to learn
acceptable behavior in the family unit. But first the husband and the wife have to learn how to live
together. Living together involves more than just two people living under the same roof. In a true
family, all the lives of each are linked in an unbreakable bond. The ups and downs of the family are
shared by all. What effects one effects all of them.
The husband and the wife must learn how to adjust themselves to each other, though in most cases
this never occurs in perfection because of the lack of trust and the unwillingness of the parties to
truly reveal themselves to each other. And a lot of this difficulty springs from excess baggage that
is bought in from other relationships and was not made manifest before the two decided to live
together. Thus the communication problem prevents a sizable barrier to true understanding, that very
understanding that is necessary for harmonious living. There is often this unstated assumption that
if you really knew me, you would not like me.
And so each partner tries vainly to present their best sides, but the rough sides keeps slipping out
creating all kinds of havocs, further misunderstanding and mistrust. This predicament is fueled by
the fact that when one or both of the contracting parties have revealed their true selves either
accidently in an emotional rage or deliberate with the intent to be honest with the other party, the
results of this exchange often have been most unfortunate. And so they retreat back into themselves,
feeling that there must be more to an intimate relationship than this, but fearing that no way can be
found to bridge the understanding gap. And this log jam of blocked sympathy and empathy often
eventually lead to divorce, either emotionally or physically. But this is the best that they are willing
to do since they are not willing to "go for broke" in the effort to achieve true understanding of each
other, and further adjust their attitudes and behavior so that a harmonious relationship can exist.
And now we come to the spiritual application of these material analogies. The Father indwells his
mortal children. He actually lives in their minds, and lives with them, but even though He lives with
them, they often times do not live with Him. In the first instance where the two families are separated
by different buildings, the Father does not enjoy reciprocity of mutual understanding, as no attempt
is made by the child to understand his spiritual Father. This is the absence of effective faith. And no
attempt is made to get to know the Father since the child is not interested in living with his Father.
This situation can be caused by ignorance but can later develop into actual rebellion and iniquity,
ejecting the Father from the mind and soul of the child.
In the second instance, where the families live in the same building, and there may be some
interchange between relatives, there is some slight interaction of the child with his Father, but not
much. Here the occupants of the building are mostly consumed with their own individual lives. But
there is impetus toward interacting even though the interaction is between relatives. This may be
considered the will to believe. There is a slight desire to get to know the Father, but no sustained
effort is made. It is only on those rare occasions when the child is really, really stressed that he might
be heard to utter the words, " Lord have mercy.”” But most of the time he goes on his selfish way,
dominated by the material aspects of his life.
In the next instance, we have the makings of the true family even though most of them will not cross
the last barrier toward mutual understanding and tolerance. Here they fuss and fight, cry and laugh,
raise their families all the time wondering and wishing that there was more to the relationship. They
usually accept their lot with resignation. They get tired of fighting and finally determine that this is
life. This level of interaction might be termed the will that believes. Here the child recognizes his
spiritual Father, and communicates with him, sharing his reactions to his life, and requesting to be
delivered from the painful and disappointing aspects of it. He is constantly in the Father's face,
telling him all about it. And he wonders why the Father does not let him off the hook. Why can't he
have his way, since it would make him so happy and satisfied to be pain free from the burdens of
life? Why must he endure all of the suffering and disappointments? Why won't the Father do his
will? But he recognizes that the Father is helping him. Through many dangers unseen and seen the
Father led and guided him through them. He only wishes the Father would do more for him, but he
finally accepts the attitude that this is the way it is. The Father has gone as far as He is going to go,
and he must accept that fact, like a child whose earthly father has made his final decision concerning
some pressing issue.
Finally we reach that last plateau that appears to be almost unheard of: in this situation members of
the earthly family have been able to put aside their petty differences and that everything is negotiable
except the relationship. They laid all of their cards on the table, having dealt with the shock of
discovering the darker side of another. They not only withstood the shock of this discovery but
sympathetically and empathetically accepted this fact. And the reward of doing this has been the
achievement of a higher degree of trust in the relationship as well as an openness they feared was
impossible. They have learned how to truly love unconditionally.
The partners have made a sincere commitment to improve their characters, to iron out the soft spots
of immaturity. Sympathy and empathy are, in the meantime, their responses towards the other’s
frailties. To them this is the way life should be, not the way life is. They have achieved harmony in
their relationship, and it is a joy to experience, and worth all of the effort that they put into making
it a reality. They have become true, sincere and wise, and consider it a betrayal of trust to be any
other way. They truly love each other. From the spiritual perspective this type of union might be
designated the will that is.
In this scenarios, the child has finally come to his senses, has matured. He realizes finally that the
Father has been helping him; it is time for him to start helping his spiritual Father. Unlike the will
that believes that the Father does not need any help since He is perfect and self-sufficient, he realizes
that the Father desires to be in eternal partnership with him, and he considers the Father's point of
view. He now feels a strong desire to help the Father. He knows that he is the vehicle for the Father
manifesting himself through His Son, Jesus. He knows that the Father knows all about him, and now
he wants to know all about the Father. He has taken the time to worship and become like the Father,
so that he understands the Father's viewpoint. He shares all things with the Father. There is mutual
love and respect. There is a oneness between him and the Father. He truly knows the Father as the
Father knows him. Not only is the Father living with him, but he is also living with the Father. And
realizes that this is a marvelous arrangement, and a joy and peace the never grows old, for he has
become like the Father, forever young.
This concludes today's message on understanding meaning of living with the spiritual 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.
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By Dr. James Perry
Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done!
Living with the Spiritual Father
