The Perception of Spiritual Goodness
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 perception of spiritual goodness.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
The Perception of Spiritual Goodness
"O, taste and see that the Lord is good: Blessed is the man that trusteth in him." Psalms,
Chapter 34, Verse 8.
Brothers and sisters, divine goodness is one of the great manifestations of God, our heavenly Father.
There is a great deal of confusion in the material mind concerning the experience of divine goodness
in the soul, for that is where goodness is experienced. In our material lives and in our material minds,
we have to distinguish between that which has value and that which has not. Whether we are talking
about food, a computer, a car, furniture or any material object. experience has taught us that not all
things have the same degree of value. Some things are excellent, like fresh food, but when this same
food become stale or rotten, then we make a judgement about its value. And we can see that we are
making a contrasting comparison here, for if we never had two different sets of qualities to choose
from, we could not distinguish the one from the other. If all we ate was bad food, we would not
know what good food tasted like; or if all we ate was good food and had no experience with bad
food, we would not know that we were eating good food. This material concept of goodness serves
us well until such times as we try to extend it to spiritual matters.
One of the questions that had dogged religionists and non-religionists alike is the presence of evil
in the world in the face of the belief and assertion that God is good. And not only is He good, but
He is all powerful, all merciful, and all loving. Now when we compare these attributes along side
the reality of human existence, profound paradoxes appear. The religionist experiences turmoil in
his mind as he attempts to harmonize the experiences in his souls with the experience of his material
minds. Recently a huge Tsunami, a monstrous wall of water, was released by natural forces upon
hundreds of thousand of unsuspecting humans. Hundreds of thousands died. And this natural
cataclysm stirred a debate of the reality of a good God in the face of evil, both man-made and
natural.
The non-religionists used these evils as proof that no such God exists. They maintain that this so-
called belief in a God only prevents human beings from adjusting to the reality of living. They
maintain that it is the nature of life to be what it is. Thus man-made evils and natural evils are forces
that mankind must find human ways to cope with. The spectacle of death from their perspective is
just another aspect of human existence. We are given a certain lease on life, subject to the
vicissitudes of existence. And whether we die young or old, peacefully or violently, for the most part
is a matter of chance. "Get over it" is their admonition. Adjust to whatever happens to you, and try
to make the best of your circumstances. And when life is over, it is over. The end.
There is no way that the human mind without revelation can synthesize the belief in a good God and
the presence of evil. It is the inherent limitation of the human mind that prevents it from harmonizing
the two views. But revelation teaches us that there is a good God in the presence of temporal evil,
and that in eternity no evil exists. Revelation and experience confirm that it is the free will choices
of human beings that create personal evil. These beings are imperfect and therefore share a
deficiency in knowledge and wisdom. The good that we do benefits all, while the evil that we do
bestows tribulation upon us all. Revelation affirms that God is good, and the world we live in is
pursuing a process in which we all progress together, personally and impersonally. As time proceeds
the natural forces come fully under the control of mind; the evil is evolved out, as spiritual
dominance of humans rise to the forefront. With this harmony on the outside and on the inside, the
paradox of a good God and an evil environment vanishes.
Now we shall consider the spiritual goodness. Spiritual goodness is the basis of trust. Without this
perception there would be no trust in God in the face of temporal evil. This spiritual goodness is so
rich and so soul-saturating, that in spite of temporal evil, the human is compelled to say that God is
good. It is the goodness of God that causes repentance. What is it about the nature of goodness that
causes repentance? Goodness is associated with a number of adjectives such as moral, responsible,
faithful, dependable, dutiful, loyal, and good. Goodness is the pure essence of God, and when this
essence is allowed to bathe the soul, then is man face to face with the very essence of God. This
goodness resonates with the receptor for receiving goodness in the soul. It is like a hand and glove,
a lock and a key.
The reception of goodness by the soul and the bestowal of goodness by God are complementary.
They are made for one another. The true religionist inherently feels the goodness of God. It remains
after all through temporal upheavals and disappointments. The goodness of God affirms the
conservation of the good, therefore nothing of spiritual value is ever lost. When activated by faith,
this goodness of God not only causes repentance but also causes the individual to strive for divine
perfection. When this goodness is contrasted with evil, it is like the good meat and the rotten meat;
the soul chooses the good meat.
The goodness of God elicits the trust response of the soul, and the soul willingly depends upon the
goodness of God for guidance and direction, for its growth and development, for its welfare and
safety. Despite temporal pains and suffering, the soul clings to its Father. And as the Father leads the
soul through the ups and downs of temporal life, sharing the vicissitudes of the soul, right there
beside it every step of the way, and feeling what the soul feels, the soul is restrained to sing:
"By and by when the morning comes
Where all the saints of God are gathered home,
We will tell the story of how we've overcome,
And we'll understand it better by and by."
Indeed brothers and sisters, we go not alone through the valley of toil and sorrow, the hard mines of
pain and suffering, but the Father goes with us, revealing to us the divine values and meanings of
these experiences. Be comforted. There is an end to pain and suffering, which have temporal but not
eternal value. And as we experience, we comprehend these divine values and meanings. We know
that God is good because we know God. We don't try to prove God's goodness by material or even
intellectual means. We prove God's goodness through direct experience, that validator of all things.
We are on the way to seeing God in person, and he is guiding us with his eye of truth, and we will
follow him until we die, and then on and on until one day we actually stand in the presence of the
source of this goodness. Hold on brothers and sisters. Get a good faith grip on the victory that is
yours just for trying and trusting. He is faithful, and he does not forget. You are precious in his sight,
and he remembers your frame.
This concludes today's message on understanding the perception of spiritual goodness. 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 Perception of Spiritual Goodness
