The Partnership between the Father and the Son
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.
Today we seek to understand the meaning of the partnership between the Father and the son.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
The Partnership between the Father and the Son
Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth
the Father do: for what things soever, he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." John,
Chapter 5, Verse 19.
Once there was a father who had a son. Now this father had a thriving large business. With keen and
ever heightening expectations, he patiently waited for his son to become old enough to enter his
business. And as he patiently waited, he trained the lad. Finally, the day arrived when the son was
old enough to enter the business.
Initially the son was given little or no responsibility for decision making; that is, he was told what
to do and how to do it, and he could decide if he would do it according to the instructions he had
received. At first. the son was somewhat disappointed at the small responsibility he was entrusted
with. He felt that he was capable of making greater decisions than the ones he was given to make,
but being a dutiful son, he complied with his father's wishes. Having being assigned to sales, he
acceptably carried out this responsibility.
In time, he was given more responsibility: He was promoted to sales manager. In this capacity, he
was responsible for supervising seven sales clerks. And he served in this position for seven years.
Under his wise leadership, the sales department tripled their productivity. Consequently, he was
promoted to senior management where he worked with a group of other mangers whose job it was
to implement sales policy throughout the store. After working in this capacity for seven years, and
after having done a marvelous job, his father made him a partner, that high level of responsibility
where his interest and his father's interest were one and the same.
Brothers and sisters, the spiritual Father seeks to raise our souls to that highly exalted state of
partnership--that state where we are one, where the interest of the spirit Father and the interest of our
souls are one and the same. As in the material association of father and son, our souls must be
lovingly cared for until we develop capacity to discern the Father's interest as being separate from
our own. Initially we think the Father's interest is the same as ours. So our souls must begin that long
training period of recognizing the nature and the character of the spiritual Father's interest.
As our soul's comprehension of the Father's interest grows, we are given increasing responsibility
for carrying out those interests. At first the responsibility is small, but as we acceptably accept and
successfully carry out these small but nevertheless real responsibilities, we are slowly but
increasingly given more responsibilities. The successful carrying out of these responsibilities
gradually make our interest like the interest of the immortal spirit Father.
In this partnership, the Father agrees to do everything; we agree to believe Him, and to follow Him
through the guidance of His Son, Jesus. The Son only does that which he sees the Father do. The
Father is absolutely trustworthy. The first task of our souls is to recognize the nature of the Father,
to recognize that the Father is love, and that His name is Truth, eternal truth.
The vast difference between the potential recognition of the divine interest, in reality the Father's
will, and our actual recognition of the divine interest creates the potential of evil. Evil does not
become an actual reality until we unconsciously choose it by choosing other than the divine interest.
Always must we choose the good. The pursuit of the good is the pursuit of perfection: "Be you
perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect." Evil arises because of the imperfection of our
spiritual insight which is necessary in order to choose the "good."
Our souls must be alert and constantly on the lookout to observe what the Father is doing through
His Son, Jesus, the Spirit of Truth. We must follow the training exercises sponsored by the Father
through His Son, Jesus. We must be on the lookout for those lost and struggling souls that draw near
us, by drawing near them to see what factors of divine goodness they need.
We must know the factors of divine goodness backwards and forwards. We must become so familiar
with them, so intimately apart of us that they emerge from our souls unconsciously. When such souls
are called good, they will naturally reply, "Why call me good? None is good but God?" The Father's
will is consciously desired in the active son but is unconsciously done.
When we practice love (in effect, shows love to an evildoer), we do so because we have learned that
this quality of good will encourage the evildoer to repent and accept forgiveness. When we practice
forgiveness (in effect, showing forgiveness to the evildoer), we have learned that to show forgiveness
to the evildoer will convict him of the power of love.
But if we fail to show love and bestow forgiveness, then must the Father suffer inescapable delay
in expressing Himself through us and to the evildoer. He must await the opportunity until we have
a change of heart, or until the spiritual helpers can bring another soul to replace the defaulting soul,
all the while subject to the delays of time and the handicaps of space.
When we practice patience (in realty, show patience to the evildoer), we are simply allowing the
evildoer time to recognize the error of his way. We know that mercy can only function at the
conclusion of patience. When we show mercy, we know mercy validates the reality of patience.
Mercy is the reflection of patience on an erring son.
But if we refuse to show patience and practice mercy, then must the Father be delayed in revealing
that aspect of Himself through us and to the evildoer, and further must await the opportunity until
we experience a change of heart, or until another righteous soul can be brought to the scene of action.
In this regard, it should be noted that if and when we refuse to show love, display patience, practice
mercy, and bestow forgiveness, we become evildoers ourselves. When our souls reach the point
where we consistently display these factors of goodness, when our chief delight is taking care of the
Father's interest of divine love, endless patience, eternal mercy, and infinite forgiveness, then has the
partnership of the immortal Father and our souls become an eternal truth and an immortal fact.
This concludes today's message on the partnership between the Father and the son. 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 Partnership between the Father and the Son
