The Daily Walk
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 discuss the technique of and validation for walking daily with the Father through his Son, Jesus.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message
The Daily Walk
Jesus said, "A new commandment I give unto you that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." John, Chapter 13, Verses 34-35
Good morning brothers and sisters, "Just a closer walk with thee. Grant it, Jesus, is my plea. Daily walking close to thee. Let it be, dear Lord, let it be." These are lyrics from a hymn. They do not represent an unusual plea because many of us who accept salvation have extreme difficulty believing that we can get as close to Jesus as we like. In truth, we can become one with him. That is, ours souls can actually become one with the Spirit of Jesus even as Jesus is one with the Father. But we refuse to believe it.
Why should we refuse to believe this? Being his sons and daughters, no spiritual limitations can be placed on our relationship with him. If we truly desire to be one with him in spirit, this desire is itself proof that we are one with him in spirit. But we must not deceive ourselves with our purported desire. The desire to be one in spirit with Jesus must be supreme. By a simple act of faith, we can choose to be one with him by deciding to do the Father’’s will.
This decision does not exempt us from grappling with the problems of material living, but it does ensure that we will have hope as we do so. Though the decision to do the Father’’s will does not deliver us from our material difficulties, not only does it ensure that we will survive, but we will thrive morally and spiritually, reaching moral and spiritual heights where we dare to go into partnership with the Father and become one with him. By consecrating our will to doing the Father’’s will daily, we ensure that we will choose that will in our ever-challenging moral and spiritual decisions. Without daily consecrating our will to doing the Father’’s will, the walk with him will always be out of sync in that sometimes we will choose his will and other times we will choose ours.
Consider this material analogy. The husband of a certain woman has long been at sea. She waits anxiously and with keen expectation for his ship to arrive in port. She scans the horizon, looking for a sign of his vessel. Eventually she sees a dark shadow coming over the horizon. At first it is difficult to make out whether this is a ship or just the interplay of waves and light. But as she continues to train her eyes on this blotch on the horizon, it is clear to her that is some kind of sailing vessel. She gradually makes out the gross details of the vessel. Pretty soon she’’s to see the ship’’s details. As it comes closer and closer to port, she sees that this is the ship that carries her beloved. Soon she is able to see figures waving to people on the shore. Then she spots her husband, who is enthusiastically waving to her. She responds by waving back. Her husband has been at sea for over six months, and she hungrily waits for him. Soon the ship docks and she can clearly make out the features of her husband and she sees that special smile that he always displays for her when they have been separated for a season. Her husband leaves the ship, and they are soon in each other’’s arms again, united.
Now let’’s compare this analogy to what happens in our moral and spiritual walk with the Father. Just as it took time for the ship to be recognized for what it was, it also takes time for us to recognize the Father’’s will. As time passes by, our faith eventually recognizes the Father’’s will. This time lag occurs because of the retraining power of doubt. And just as the ship got closer, she was able to increasingly recognize the details of it, and the people aboard, our faith over comes the doubt, and the Father’’s will is recognized. With the growth in grace, our faith soon recognizes the manifestations of the divine will.
And just as she recognized the special smile of her husband, our faith allows us to recognize that special love that the Father reveals to us. And just as she embraced her husband and became one with him, overcoming all separation from him, our faith allows us to embrace the Father’’s will and become united with it. In other words, we experience no separation from the Father’’s will in our moral and spiritual lives. Just as the wife and the husband make ready to enjoy each other, our faith allows us to enjoy the matchless relationship with the Father. We are now in a position to explore the endless aspects of his character and love, as we launch forward into multitudinous moral and spiritual situations. Just as the wife and husband unite to produce offspring——a child——so does the united soul and spirit produce offspring——the fruits of the spirit. This fruit is the hallmark union of the soul and the spirit.
So if we really want a closer walk with the heavenly Father, resulting in oneness with him, all we need to do is desire it, will it. And when we do wholeheartedly desire this closer walk with him, it becomes a faith reality (though not considered real by the material mind, it nevertheless is real on moral and spiritual levels as our moral and spiritual consciousness testifies). The moral and spiritual will in union with the Father is able to recognize, accept, and complete moral and spiritual tasks that were impossible not only of completion but of recognition as well. Such moral and spiritual light is only available to those who dedicate and consecrate their wills to doing the Father’’s will. It forever remains true that if we dedicate our will to doing the Father’’s will, the fruits of the spirit that flow from us will validate our oneness with him.
As the wife has no difficulty living the reality of being married to her husband (she has the marriage license and——more importantly——her husband’’s continued love and affection), we should have no difficulty in living the reality of being one with the Father. We have testimony by the spirit, which bears witness with our spirits that we are the sons of God. We have the superb and matchless affection of the Father. If we want a closer walk with the Father, resulting in oneness with him, all we need do is believe it and act like we have it.
This concludes today's message on understanding how we walk daily with Jesus. 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
The Daily Walk
