The Outworking of the Father's Love
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 outworking of the Father's love.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
The Outworking of the Father's Love
"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the
sons of God." 1 John, Chapter 3, Verses 1.
Brothers and sisters, the material body is like an eggshell. It has value because there is something
growing inside. And like the eggshell which has no value after the chick is hatched, the material
body has no further use after our souls emerge. And just as the chick has no resemblance at all to the
egg shell, neither does the soul have any resemblance to the body.
But though this soul grows inside our material minds, it increasingly makes itself known in our outer
lives as we experience daily struggles. Our souls are incomplete, like everything else that is created
in time and space. They must grow and develop and do so through experience. Our souls must learn
to be loyal and courageous, to develop trust and hope, and to have faith in the goodness of God, their
Father. But initially these soul qualities are expressed as only potentials. Experiences make them real
and actual.
The material life with its vicissitudes is the perfect environment to bring forth these essential but
heretofore potential spiritual qualities. Loyalty to truth under any and all circumstances is the
substance of soul growth. Only by the persistent pursuit of truth can our souls ever escape its
incomplete status.
As imperfect progressive experiences confront our souls, we must ever heed the cry, "this is the way,
the truth, and the life." The way of truth is always through the experience that is before us. This
experience may be the result of our decision or the result of someone else's decision or it may be
created by the impersonal circumstances under which we live. But always must our souls go through
the experience, for concealed in the experience is the very truth that our hungry souls need to grow
and thrive.
Thus to turn away from an experience through the agencies of insincerity, procrastination,
equivocation, or frank cowardice is to sacrifice truth, and the sacrifice of truth is to starve our souls.
The persistent starvation of the soul leads to everlasting death. There is no other way to experience
truth other then to submit to the stormy and fiery trials that conceal its meanings and values. These
stormy and fiery trials burn away the material meanings and reveal the spiritual meanings of truth
to us. These experiences also lead to life, eternal life, for as souls experience, they grow and develop,
and eventually reach that level of growth where they become one with the Father's spirit, which is
the reality of eternal life.
Courage is another spiritual quality that is essential to the development of loyalty. The willingness
to pursue truth wherever it leads requires courage. The nature of the experience is such that our souls
never know what to expect next. The experience often appears difficult and fraught with danger.
Sometimes the experience even causes material death. It requires courage to lay down our material
life in the pursuit of truth, especially when the material life is the only life our material minds know.
Trust must be developed, the kind of trust that only comes about as the result of overcoming all
experiences spiritually. That is, after all experiences, no matter what the content, our souls emerge
from the ashes even more dedicated to the truth of goodness. Only the experience of goodness can
cause our conscious minds to say that God is good after countless material disappointments and
sufferings. Only the experience of divine goodness can continue to drive the material self through
destructive material experiences. Trust is the response of our souls to the faith of the spirit Father.
Hope and faith must be developed. The essence of the desire for better times is hope, and the surety
of this achievement is faith. The measure of hope that is displayed in the face of material adversities
is the measure of spiritual growth of our souls. No matter how many material failures are
experienced, the essence of the desire for better times burns brightly. The cry is always, "this too
shall pass."
Faith is the essence of spiritual power. It is the substance that gradually permeates our souls. And
as this permeation proceeds, our souls are better able to reinforce the consecrated will to doing the
Father's will. This faith makes it possible to drive the material mind and body in the service of higher
spiritual impulses. And this drive continues on even in the face of material dangers. It transmutes
the statement that declares the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak into the statement that the spirit
is willing and the flesh is willing and able. Faith is a living spiritual reality, and when it fills our
souls, our souls acquire the consciousness of spiritual indestructibility.
This concludes today's message on understanding the outworking 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
Inspirational Messages
By Dr. James Perry
Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done!
The Outworking of the Father's Love
