The Experience of Knowing the heavenly Father
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 experience of knowing the heavenly Father.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
The Experience of Knowing the Heavenly Father
"Jesus answered and said unto him, 'if a man love me, he will keep my words: 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, the experience of knowing the Father is an intimate, personal, spiritual and
continuous experience. It is one of knowing God as our Father and knowing ourselves as His sons
and daughters. Knowing the heavenly Father as a personal experience has advantages that totally
eclipse any knowledge about the Father. Knowledge about the Father and knowledge of the Father
are not the same thing, anymore than knowledge of our earthly father is the same as knowledge about
him.
Knowledge of the heavenly Father is based on our experience with Him, while knowledge about Him
is not. While the actual experience of knowing God is an absolute reality that we are all striving to
penetrate to the fullest, and though it will take all eternity to penetrate that absoluteness, this in no
way detracts from the truth that God our Father is even now a present reality in our spiritual
experience. He is our constant companion, and He is doing what all fathers do: guiding, directing,
comforting, inspiring, providing unique experiences for growth in knowledge of Himself, but most
of all loving us.
The heavenly Father, like all fathers, is already a present reality by the time the child becomes
conscious of Him. He has been there all the time, doing those things for the child that are absolutely
necessary, though the child is unaware of it. Consciousness of the heavenly Father is not a sudden
revelation that appears in our souls perfectly. Rather, it is a slowly growing consciousness that gently
appears in ever increasing response to the desire for such consciousness. And while the presence of
the heavenly Father is in its full and glorious state, our comprehension of this state is incomplete.
When cultivated, the growing experience of knowing the Father is the most wonderful experience
known, for it provide a growing knowledge base of His character within our souls. Such knowledge
assures us that we are absolutely indestructible. It assures us of eternal life and fills our souls with
spiritual love and mercy. Such a combination of fatherly and spiritual love equips us for the rigorous
challenge of growth and provides the desire and motivation to master the present environment--to
become perfect as the Heavenly Father is perfect.
In the face of some of cataclysmic events in life, the experience of knowing God provides for a peace
that passes all understanding. This experience provides the deep soul peace--perceived spiritual joy
that is so essential to preventing a morbid and fatalistic attitude towards life. This spiritual joy is
hope, which is like an all powerful looking glass that endows the looker to see beyond the present
circumstance towards the eternal shining of paradise, where absolutely nothing ever goes wrong.
Along with faith, hope provides the sustaining stamina to go all the way, demolishing all obstacles
that stand in the way of achieving divine perfection, of achieving a character like Jesus.
The experience of knowing God means that in every life situation there travels within us an all
powerful, all loving and all merciful wise Father. No matter how difficult or painful the temporal
life, the heavenly Father's presence provides the basis of peace and joy and equips our souls to
exercise that most rugged and essential of values for success--long suffering. The Father's presence
encourages and stimulates within us the "I can do it" attitude. It is the source of that cry heard in the
soul when confronted with the inexplicable: even if I cannot do this, there is one who lives in me
who can do and will do it--the heavenly Father.
The experience of knowing God provides for intimate communion so that the soul can talk to the
heavenly Father anytime it chooses, for the heavenly Father is constantly talking to the soul by
revealing truth, beauty, and goodness. This communion (prayer) provides the experience whereby
the soul realizes that it is never alone. The experience of knowing God also provides for those ideals
(worship) that the soul is desirous of obtaining and empowers the soul to achieve these ideals of
spiritual values and meanings. The experience of knowing God always stimulates the faith and trust
response of the soul, so that the soul cries out in every situation, "God is good." The experience of
knowing God provides the enjoyment of that mercy--the revelation of truth-- that is so essential for
souls to flourish and grow.
Finally the experience of knowing the Father provides the absolute impeccable credentials of the
knowledge of the Father' character since it causes the soul to become like the Father, like Jesus. Once
we have taken a look at the heavenly father (all it takes is just one look) there is no further doubt
about what He's like. No one can make us doubt the reality of the Father's love and His mercy
because we know him so well. Our character is a reflection of the Father through the power of his
Son, Jesus. The experience of knowing the Father forever frees us, makes us eternal. It launches us
into the eternal seas of truth realization. In response to this journey of truth exploration, we cry, "God
is absolutely beautiful."
This concludes today's message on understanding the experience of knowing the heavenly 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.
Inspirational Messages
By Dr. James Perry
Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done!
The Experience of Knowing the heavenly Father
