Spirit Activated, Spirit Directed, Spirit Controlled and Spirit Sustained
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 that exalted state of being spirit activated, spirit-directed, spirit-controlled, and spirit-sustained.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
Spirit Activated, Spirit Directed, Spirit Controlled and Spirit Sustained
Jesus said, "Not everyone that saith unto me, ‘‘Lord, Lord,’’ shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Matthew, Chapter 7, Verses 21
Struggle on brave soul!
I say, struggle on brave soul,
Suffer the miseries untold,
For the sake of righteousness,
And truth will fill your soul.
Brothers and sisters, in today’’s broadcast we examine that exalted state of achievement where we are fully spirit-activated, spirit-directed, spirit-controlled, and spirit-sustained. We are desirous of achieving such a state. In a previous broadcast, we discussed the problem of delayed entrance into the kingdom, but now we want to take up the state of those who have fully entered the kingdom, those who do the will of the Father in heaven, those who have removed the stranglehold of their pet snakes of evil from around their necks and have allowed them to slither on into the darkness of forever, the province of those things, meanings, and values that--while they may have had some material and temporal value have no spiritual value--those things that have no use in the kingdom.
There is a universe of divine values and meanings awaiting discovery by our slumbering souls. To discover these divine values and meanings, our souls must be activated by the Father’’s will. This activation supplies the spiritual energy that wakes up the soul, causes the soul to be born again, where it comprehends the divine values of truth, beauty, and goodness, and most of all becomes aware of the divine love that the heavenly Father has for His children.
But how do we activate our souls so they become surcharged with spiritual power that will enable us to grasp those spiritual values and meanings with which our routine activities are pregnant? Unless and until ours souls are activated, the material life is all we can be aware of us. And concerning divine values and meanings, we become like Job, who said, "Lo, he goes by me, and I see him not; he passes on also, but I perceive him not."
The activation of our souls occur when we respond to the faith-desire to do the Father’’s will. This desire takes the form of wanting to be helpful to our brothers and sisters, to do something good and unselfish for them. It also takes the form of wanting to know God, wanting to do the Father’’s will, rather than our own. And once we make a supreme faith-decision to do the Father’’s will, we faith-release the spiritual powers bound up in our souls, and presently the eyes of our souls open and we behold a whole new world, a world of spiritual values and meanings. Now material reality still remains, but not only do we comprehend the material values and meanings, but we now see spilling out of them divine values and meanings. This spiritual activation cannot be handicapped by the material status of the body. All that is required to experience the divine values and meanings, to experience the heavenly Father, to experience his unceasing mercies to our souls is a normal moral mind.
Divine values and meanings constitute the satisfaction of living. In short, we live the heavenly life while we still live life in the flesh. As we live, spiritual values and meanings become progressively comprehensible. That is, the meanings of the divine values continue to increase and we recognize that the comprehension of these divine values and meanings are the progressive revelations of truth, beauty, goodness--love, the revelation of the spiritual Father.
After we have become spiritually activated, then begins the process of being spiritually directed. Being spiritually directed is the result of submitting to the Father’’s will. When we do this, the Father directs us toward the specific value that we need for that aspect of our character that is amenable to changing, that part of our character that is ready for the chisel of perfection. Thus, the experience is provided so that a specific value will be brought forth and thus the divine meaning that the chisel of love exposes. As one of the sisters summed it up: "When we try and determine God's will about something, whether to go or stay, turn left or right, or whether we have the right attitude about something, what we're really doing is ascertaining the quality of a decision, the morality of the choice.”” We always know what is right or wrong, but what attitude underlies the choice?
If we've made the supreme decision to do God's will, we will eventually recognize that all the significant decisions we've made have been influenced by the divine spirit, just as we are influenced in a positive way by our human friends who have a positive impact on our lives. God's influence molds and shapes us in the same way that our deepest friendships do. Better not to ask for a material experience but a spiritual value that will be actualized in an experience. It is really that value that we should focus on rather than the experience because the experience is merely the material vehicle that carries within it the spiritual value.
Spiritual direction in association with our angels carries us into new and challenging moral and spiritual experiences. And as we function in these experiences, subject to our Father’’s will, our character undergoes transformation. Our soul grows. And this growth is evidenced by our ability to comprehend the divine values and meanings of the experience. Each experience requires a greater spiritual effort on our part to master it, and in doing so we are provided with a greater spiritual consciousness of the Father. Thus, we see the link between progressive experience and God consciousness. The greater the experience, the greater the God consciousness derived from the experience.
And as these experiences are difficult, sometimes placing a heavy strain on our material natures, there must be some mechanism of control. And there is, for the soul that is spirit-activated, spirit-directed is also amenable to spirit control, to spiritual discipline. Spiritual discipline comes in the form of long-suffering, untiring patience. And as the emotional reaction to a difficult life rages on, and as the body struggles with its peculiar ailments that only the Father really knows about, and as the years roll by one after another, the discipline of the spirit ensures that the soul will continue to walk in the shoes of this life, no matter how difficult, quieting the emotions with a peace that passes all understanding and transcending the ailments of the body with a deep inner joy.
The ailments of the body still remain but they are powerless to stop the soul from acquiring divine values and meanings. This particular spiritual quality, long-suffering, provides the soul with a value that empowers it to stand, to remain anchored in the goodness of the Father. It also provides a meaning that is the same divine meaning that the Father experiences when exercising long-suffering on our behalf, for the Father never loses control, never derailed. He is always patient and he is always victorious.
Finally, the soul that is spirit-activated, the soul that is spirit-directed, and spirit-controlled is also amenable to spiritual sustenance. This spiritual sustenance sustains the soul while it makes its long, long struggle to break the chains of material fetters and to acquire the divinity of perfection. During this process of growth and development, prayers of faith and the practice of worship sustains the soul. Faith in the goodness of God, faith in the supreme desire to be perfect even as the heavenly Father is perfect, and faith in the divine values and meanings of the Father sustains the soul on its trek to eternity. This faith in the goodness of God ties the soul to its maker and constantly replenishes it. "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."
This concludes today's message on understanding that exalted state of being spirit-activated, spirit-directed, spirit-controlled, and spirit-sustained. 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
By Dr. James Perry
Spirit Activated, Spirit Directed, Spirit Controlled and Spirit Sustained
