The Reality of the Response
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. This
morning we will ponder our lives as we seek to understand the meaning of the reality of the response
to the Father's Love.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
The Reality of the Response to the Father's Love
Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you. The Son can do nothing of himself, but whatever he
seeth the Father do: For what things soever, he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." John,
Chapter 5, Verse 19.
And now brothers and sisters, after having mastered the technique of walking in this marvelous light
and having gone through the flames of purification, we are now ready to display this marvelous light
to others, in reality brothers and sisters who are not recognized as such. Having first practiced these
techniques on our immediate families and friends, we are now ready for the adventure of Father-
revealing through His Son, Jesus, to those located at more remote distances of darkness. Having
passed the scrutiny of those who know us thoroughly as we really are, we are now ready to pass the
scrutiny of those who don't know us at all.
As we look back over the long years of training, memories flood our minds. Gone is the pain
associated with those often painful experiences as we learned to master them one by one. By
following the Father's leading, we emerged victorious. And how often we were puzzled by the path
that the Father led us, for instead of leading us around the many trials and tribulations, the Father led
us right through the thickets of them. And how we thought we would never survive them, but the
Father brought us through them one by one.
How often we were tempted to take the so-called short cut as we sometimes watched our fondest
ambitions and dreams go up in the smoke of things not to be. We did not know it at that time, but
the Father was systematically stripping us of all material loyalties and material concepts of our
relationship with Him. How we prayed during those dark days, begging and pleading to be delivered
from our cross of pain and sorrow. How many times had we wondered if there was anybody
listening, and how many times had we been tempted to give up the whole idea of prayer?
But the fiery trials purified our faith. As the crises rolled through our lives, and sometimes over us,
we were forced to adjust our concepts of our relationship with Him. As we viewed those many
material disappointments, honesty and sincerity forced us to pursue one of two options: Either we
did not have enough faith or we were wrong in what we believed the Father would do for us.
And you well recall brothers and sisters what a terrible struggle that was, but we was guided by the
truth that the Father is spirit, and must be worshiped in truth and spirit. We were tempted to say that
we did not have enough faith, but something inside us as well as own experiences told us that this
could not be the case. While our faith had to continue growing, we realized that no father, not even
an earthly one, would keep the standards of knowing him so high that the children could not
conceive of our relationship with him. How much more perfect would the heavenly Father be in
revealing His love to us, His earthly children.
We were forced to realize that God was the spiritual Father, and we were His children. And like all
children through experience and reflection, through sincerity and honesty, we would have to discover
what our true relationship with the Father was. Children have many fantasies about their relationship
with their earthly fathers, but as time passes, the children recognize what the true relationship is,
which the father, earthly or heavenly has been revealing to them all the time.
We further came to recognize that our insistence on material manifestations from the Father as proof
of our relationship with Him was due to two factors: First, we are material beings with material
minds, and we naturally tend to think of things material in the process of our growth towards the
spiritual state. The material is the actual state; the spiritual is our potential state. Secondly we realize
that our insistence upon material manifestations of the love of the heavenly Father is itself proof of
insufficient faith, doubt.
We noticed that the moment we adjusted our relational concept of the Father to the spiritual away
from the material, our faith increased, and our consciousness of the Father increased which caused
us to formulate the concept of faith as standing for the unseen but real relationship with the Father.
Temporal and material upheavals may come and go, as they have, but nothing can disturb this
spiritual and eternal relationship with our heavenly Father through His Son, Jesus.
Now all our prayers are answered in every crisis since all our petitions are all spiritual, as the Father
sends us the answer in a flood of divine goodness. We are filled with divine love, never-ending
patience, endless mercy, and unthinking forgiveness. Armed with these spiritual weapons, we are
ready for the mastery of the spiritual life, as we begin the assault on eternal life in earnest,
conquering the divine values and meanings that the Spirit of Truth reveals to us. And like Jesus we
cry, "Of ourselves we can do nothing, but only that which we see the Father do, through His Son,
Jesus."
This concludes today's message on understanding the reality of the response to 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 Reality of the Response
