The Messengers of Hope and 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 revealed many revelations of spiritual truth to me, and I want to share them with you. This morning we seek to understand the messengers of hope and faith.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
The Messengers of Hope and Faith
"For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith." Galatians, Chapter 5, Verse 5
Brothers and sisters, in today’’s broadcast, we reflect on the characteristics of the messengers of hope and faith. We shall show how these messengers came to have this spiritual designation; that is, their origin, function and destiny. And further we should and can become these same messengers. During this time of crises in the world, we need more messengers to counter doubt and despair.
The messengers of hope and faith have their origin in a unique creation, but first it may prove helpful to discuss their status before becoming messengers. Prior to becoming messengers, these unique creatures were found to be raging at night. Their strident voices could be heard above the pandemonium of mortal existence. These were the ones who refused to "go quietly in the night." It is not they there were unwillingly to fight the material struggles of life, but they had a few questions: "Why should we fight the struggle of life, if the end is always the same whether we fight or not?" "Why should we spend so much energy fighting the forces of despair when all our efforts are in vain?"
They had not given up but they were very close to the edge of succumbing to the forces of despair. But something in their nature would not allow them to take that final step of surrendering. But they reasoned within themselves saying, "if we are not going to surrender to despair, then we need some additional power to ease the weight of our struggle, some force that will hopefully counter the weight of despair. The small still voice cried, "Come unto me, all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: And ye shall find rest unto your souls." But their hearing was turned outward; the din of the outer world drowned out those merciful words.
They had begun their search on the outside, looking for something that would make their struggle with life easier. Failing to find it on the outside, they finally turned their search inward. And as they searched within, amidst all of the pessimism, they found a little light of hope and faith. They found the small still voice but could not yet hear it. Their hope and faith were surrounded by despair and doubt, and it required quite a bit of power to free it up. They lacked this power. They were trying to use reason and logic to free this faith and hope from the arms of doubt and despair. They had reasoned within themselves that if they were going to live this life regardless, why not live it with hope and faith. But they could find no way to turn this hope and faith derived from logic and reason into a living reality.
They kept trying, and their efforts would carry them right up to the border, where they discovered a huge chasm that reason and logic were powerless to cross. And now they were in a pickle, standing on the edge of this chasm. It is a very sad thing to want something that you vitally need but feel you cannot get.
As they continue to deliberate on how they could get across this chasm, their desire to cross this chasms between the material and the spiritual grew, and they finally asked one day, almost without thinking, "Is there anyone who can carry us across?”” And a soft and gentle but powerful voice replied in their thoughts: "Ask and you shall receive." "I am the way, the truth, the life." This time they heard the voice, but asked, " who are you?" The voice replied:
I am the bread of life; I am the living water.
I am the light of the world; I am the desire of all ages.
I am the open door to eternal salvation; I am the reality of endless life.
I am the good shepherd; I am the pathway of infinite perfection.
I am the resurrection and the life; I am the secret of eternal survival.
I am the way, the truth, and the life; I am the infinite Father of my finite children.
I am the true vine; you are the branches; I am the hope of all who know the living truth.
I am the living bridge from one world to another; I am the living link between time and eternity.
"I am He whom you seek. I can and will carry you across the chasm from the material side, where there is doubt and despair, to the spiritual side, where there is faith and hope, where there is life eternal. I am the Spirit of Truth, the living Spirit, the Divine Son, Jesus." They asked, ““how can we know that you are able to do what you say?"
And the Spirit of Truth replied, "the validity of what I promise is verified by your actually crossing over from the material side where therein is death to the spiritual side where there is eternal life. But you must be born again before you can cross over. You must be recreated, spiritually. You must still live this material life, but you will be able to live the spiritual life as well. And this spiritual life will give rise to the hope and faith that you are desirous of acquiring as you live this material life. And they replied, "How do I get to be born again?" The Spirit of Truth responded, "By believing in Jesus who delights in imparting eternal life to all who believe in him, and by doing his Father’’s will."
And they replied, "Lord I believe, I pray you help my unbelief." And then the struggle between doubt and faith, despair and hope began in their hearts. But the Spirit of Truth empowered them to overcome doubt and despair, and with a leap of faith and inexpressible hope, they leaped across the chasm separating the material from the spiritual, and the Spirit of Truth carried them across. And then the Spirit of Truth instructed them: "This new spiritual reality that you are aware of can be superimposed upon the material reality, but it cannot and will not change it. It will fill your life with such hope, faith, and trust, that it will take the sting and weight out of it. This new reality will fill you life with divine values and meanings in the very midst of the material struggles, and your souls will be constrained to say, "God is good. You are now the Father’’s spiritual messengers of hope and faith." With this simple ceremony, they became spiritual messengers of hope and faith.
And now that their "eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord," they began their spiritual mission with exceeding joy of displaying this hope and faith wherever they go, and with whomever they interact. They take delight in portraying this hope and faith in the face of despair and doubt. Their cry is always, "the night might be dark, but the day is gloriously bright." They are particularly interested in the downtrodden, the confused, and the lost. Never do they fail to shine this light of faith and hope upon them. No matter how difficult the material reality is, they never fail to display this faith and hope. They take great pleasure in these rescue missions of mercy. Always do they portray spiritual values of hope and faith, for that is their glorious mission. And they encourage their charges to become messengers of hope and faith, for they instruct them that the best way to escape from the doubt and despair of material living is to become spiritual messengers of hope and faith. These tireless workers, these exalted sons of God in the flesh, these representatives of the Fathers never fail to give words of encouragement to those who have become discouraged. They never falter, never look the other way when perceiving a soul in distress. They faithfully carry out their glorious spiritual mission.
In eternity these faithful beacons of faith and hope will be shining this light in the never-ending cycles of eternity. And though long since past the era of living material reality, their hope and faith that was discovered there continues to comfort and inspire them as they continuously explore the Father’’s universe, finding new meanings and new values of this endless hope and faith even as they did when they sojourned in the flesh. And beneath it all lies the Father’’s matchless love, that assurance of security in the face of uncertainty.
This concludes today's message on the messengers of hope and 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
By Dr. James Perry
The Messengers of Hope and Faith
