The Effectiveness of the Father's Love
Greetings, 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 effectiveness of the Father's love.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
The Effectiveness of the Father's Love
"And he said unto me, 'My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in
weakness.'" Second Corinthians, Chapter 12, Verse 9.
Brothers and sisters, the Father has commanded us to be perfect even as he is perfect (as revealed
by His Son, Jesus). He has sent his spirit to live within in our souls, has given us his love to comfort
and sustain us. He has also given his good Spirit of Truth to guide us into the paths of moral and
spiritual perfection. He has sent his mighty angels to be by our side to guard and guide us into the
paths of progressive righteousness. Now all of this is a bit much for the material self that must follow
the material consequences of living the mortal life even as the soul gears us for the spiritual life. As
the material self wrestles with and comes to grip with the reality of material life, with its endless
disappointments, transient satisfactions, physical afflictions, it is of necessity at times forced to hike
through the valley of depression and climb the mountains of anxiety.
This unremitting toil places a tremendous strain upon our material minds and souls, and the stress
becomes palpable. Often there is no way to relieve either the stress itself or the cause of it.
Sometimes over time the material self finds itself completely wrapped up in stressful events that
stretch on for years. It is only natural that the material self would yield to the temptation to drink the
poison of despair since it knows that even if it survives all of these stressful situations, there is no
way it can survive the ultimate stress-his impending death. With these stressful events there exist
patient spiritual forces that identify and extract the spiritual values from these very troubling events.
These values are not often evident to the material mind; thus it is wise to remind the mind of the
usefulness of these stressors. We know that all other things being equal, the material self would not
move forward against resistance. It seeks a life of ease. There is a way that seems right to man, but
the way thereof leads to eternal damnation. It is because of the love of the Father for us that he has
set up the very circumstances that force us to become more than what we are. By the very process
of subjecting us to these influences, He provides the stimulus for us to overcome these material
problems by the use of our intellect and reveals the spiritual meanings and values extracted from
these same material experiences.
In the face of these often excruciating experiences, the Father floods our minds and souls with hope
and faith. Hope ever propels the consciousness of mortal man to look beyond the present, to
recognize the temporal nature of all material reality. The night may be dark, but joy comes in the
morning. Hope is a bridge that spans between the present and future. By an act of faith the soul can
cross over this bridge into realizing the values and meanings of spiritual life. This precious faith
provides the power to cross the bridge from temporal significance, where there is pain and sorrow,
to eternal significance, where there is joy and happiness. And it is this failure to grasp and embrace
hope and faith that causes so many to continually pursue temporal pleasures as an antidote to the
sometimes distressing nature of material existence. This failure blinds them to the merciful
revelations of the divine reality (truth) that they seek in their hearts.
Moving from the temporal and material meanings and values to eternal and spiritual meanings and
values is difficult. It is difficult to transfer the seat of identity from the material self to the soul. We
should pray and worship, worship and pray, instead of indulging in worry and anxiety which does
nothing to alleviate the situation. Yes, depression is cruel and anxiety is disintegrating. But all the
more the need to pray and worship and worship and pray. It is true that the Father loves us, but like
all truth we cannot "perceive spiritual truth until we feelingly experience it, and many truths are not
really felt except in adversity." If we continue to fight the good fight of faith, to cling to the goodness
of the Father, this divine love will keep and nurture us. Before, during, and after all adversity and
struggle, we will find that the Father's love is effective and sustaining. And though the flood waters
of adversity overwhelm us many times, we will find from our own experiences the reality of this
truth. We will find that regardless of our emotional reactions to these trying events, we will thrive
by living a dynamic spiritual experience, where the revelations of truth, beauty, and goodness will
keep increasing in value and meaning.
We must believe wholeheartedly that our life with its constant paradoxes has some over arching
value, something of ultimate significance though for some reason is not clear to our consciousness.
We must hold on, refuse to give up. Even if we do give up, the material consequences will continue
to unfold. The difference is that if we hold on we will have hope and faith. If we give up we will
have despair. We must continue to pray, for it will reveal to us that the Father's grace is sufficient.
We can master this life, if we will only seek to know the Father's will in every crisis, seek to know
his divine perfection, to know his matchless character and allow that exposure to change our own
character into the image of His Son. God is love and this love is diffused throughout our souls
comforting and inspiring us to continue the good fight of faith, to continually strive to seek the
spiritual counterparts of all this rigorous uphill struggle.
The effectiveness of the Father's love is such that it overcomes all barriers, widening the breach in
time and space until such occasion as it creates a hole large enough for us to enter the abode of
paradise. Our faith has already grasped this occasion and will make it possible for us to actually
stand in the presence of the very source of this faith and love. The effectiveness of divine love is
such that it makes us more than a conqueror. Not only does it allow us to conquer a belligerent self,
it causes this same self to labor for the glory and honor of God.
What a magnificent journey, what a glorious destiny, what a glorious realization that very shortly
we are to emerge from the muck and mire of rendering to Caesar the things of Caesar and rendering
to God the things that are of God to that state where we serve only God. What a joyous event when
postponed understanding is finally transmuted to a comprehension of glorious values and joyous
eternal meanings. What a glorious day when all the shadows of time and space are dispelled by the
glorious light of the Father's presence a happy, serene, and perfected son of the living eternal
heavenly Father.
This concludes today's message on the effectiveness of the Father's love. 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!
The Effectiveness of the Father's Love
