The Glory of Faith
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 shared many revelations of spiritual truth with me, and I want to share them with you. This morning we consider the glory of faith.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
The Glory of Faith
"By faith, Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God." Hebrews, Chapter 11, Verse 5
Brothers and sisters, faith is the gift of the heavenly Father, and it is a wonderful gift. We perceive spiritual reality with faith. We are able to experience the love of the heavenly Father and to experience being his sons and daughters with faith. The wonderful thing about faith is that it allows us to transcend our material natures. Were it not for the faith in our souls, we could never fathom the values and meanings of the heavenly Father. We could never escape from the purely material values and meanings of this life. But with the marvelous gift of faith, we can soar the heavenly reaches and grasp the meanings of truth, beauty, and goodness--even the meanings of the Father’’s love for us.
This wonderful gift by its power to elevate our souls and spiritual consciousness far above our material consciousness ensures that no matter what our material circumstances, our spiritual consciousness will always be primary over our material consciousness. Whether rich or poor, sick or well, isolated or not, our spiritual consciousness always rises above these and all other material circumstances. Although we may have emotional difficulties and though they may cloud our material circumstances, they can never cloud the faith consciousness, for that consciousness depends on only our desire.
We are and will always be sons and daughters of the heavenly Father regardless of our material status. The Father’’s spirit remains with us through all disaster and through every sickness that does not destroy our intellect. If the intellect is destroyed, then the divine spirit with the soul takes leave of the material body and heads for the heavenly Mansions, where we begin the next phase of life. The divine spirit is the assurance of our souls that we remain spiritually invincible and resurrectable. Ponder this: "Jesus portrayed the profound surety of the God-knowing mortal when he said: ‘‘To a God-knowing kingdom believer, what does it matter if all things earthly crash?’’ Temporal securities are vulnerable, but spiritual sureties are impregnable. When the flood tides of human adversity, selfishness, cruelty, hate, malice, and jealousy beat about the mortal soul, you may rest in the assurance that there is one inner bastion, the citadel of the spirit, which is absolutely unassailable; at least this is true of every human being who has dedicated the keeping of his soul to the indwelling spirit of the eternal God."
As long as we remain morally conscious, the divine spirit remains with us. And as long as the divine spirit remains with us, faith also remains, converting potential spiritual values into actual spiritual values. Faith makes all the values and meanings associated with divine sonship in the flesh available here and now. It even reveals values and meanings of divine oneness as sponsored and offered to us by the divine Son, Jesus, whose invitation is: "whoso ever will, let him come and freely partake of the waters of life." This glorious faith elevates our Spirit of Truth surrounded souls so that we become faith conscious of the heavenly Father. This faith makes real to our consciousness the promise of eternal life with the assurance that we will survive mortal death. This faith is glorious because when it is exercise by a mortal, who is fearful and craving survival, it transforms him into a creature devoid of fear and filled with the consciousness of divine love.
The glory of faith is its ability to fill our souls with hope in the very midst of despair. This hope empowers us to endure any mortal experience regardless of our emotional responses to it. If hope is the spiritual rope that pulls us through the ups and downs of life, then faith is the spiritual fabric of this rope. Faith always shows the soul the better day ahead, even the eternal day, when all the delays of time and the handicaps of space have been vanquished. Such a vision does not deliver us from the time-space difficulties of the moment, but it does ensure that we will be present when no such difficulties exist. This will be that far distant day when we shall stand in the presence of the heavenly Father.
The glory of faith is that it is serviceable in this life and all other lives, for it will serve us well as we explore the infinity and eternity of the heavenly Father. "Father, I stretch out my hands to you, no other help I know" goes the hymn, and the Father responds with the gift of faith, help for all who seek to find the Father through the Son. This faith is living, which means that it adapts itself to the environment. Living faith can deal with any contingency. "It’’s simply the best, better than all the rest," as the song goes. When fully embraced by the soul, no force can defeat it.
The glory of faith is that it empowers the ears of the soul to hear the merciful words of Jesus: "Fear not for I am with you." The glory of faith is that it empowers the soul to believe these comforting words. Faith is like a refreshing drink after a deep thirst. Faith will sustain and keep us during the long night of trials and tribulations. Faith will keep the eyes of the soul focused on the heavenly Father. Faith will lead us to the lovely divine Son, Jesus, who invites all who labor and are heavy laden to come to him and find rest for their souls.
The glory of faith is that it allows us to live the heavenly life while we yet walk in the sometimes disagreeable shoes of material existence. Faith is like a pure scent, emanating from the soul and filling the material life with its precious spiritual fragrance. It allows us to enjoy the joy and peace of another life, the heavenly life, even in the midst of turmoil and sorrow. It even allows us to, like Elijah and Enoch, be translated and ultimately to be perfect even as the heavenly Father is perfect. All of this glorious faith can be had by simply believing. Believe. We will then experience the glories of faith.
This concludes today's message on understanding the meaning of the glory of faith. 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 Glory of Faith
