The Security of the Spirit
Your Kingdom Come; Your Will Be Done!
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 security of the spirit.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
The Security of the Spirit
"Jesus said, ‘‘My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out my hand. My Father which gave them to me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’’s hand. I and my Father are one.’’" John Chaper10, Verses 27 through 29
Good morning brothers and sisters. This morning we shall explore the spiritual security of the heavenly Father. We know in the material world there is no security, but in the spirit we have absolute security. In the material life, we never know what to expect next, and this creates quite a bit of anxiety and anguish in our minds and souls. As we try to adjust and meet the challenges in our lives, often we feel inadequate to successfully meet them. Sometimes we feel a lack of competence when confronting new challenges. These challenges can be quite daunting and at times seem to defy solution.
Added to this situation is the fact that we are mortal, and the slow process of material dissolution is well under way for most of us who have traveled this road. Along with the slow material dissolution comes the infirmities of aging. These infirmities make it difficult to carry out the routine tasks of existence. And we would like to feel the security of the spirit. Jesus offers us eternal salvation, therefore when we accept this salvation, ““we should be unafraid of life””…… and be ““honest and consistent.”” ““We should bravely endure unavoidable suffering……”” and be ““uncomplaining when faced by inescapable hardships."
Consider this: "The God-conscious mortal is certain of salvation; he is unafraid of life; he is honest and consistent. He knows how bravely to endure unavoidable suffering; he is uncomplaining when faced by inescapable hardship." How do we realize this security in the spirit when faced with the trials and tribulations of material life? Is there one whom we can look to as our example? Yes, there is.
Our Lord and Savior, Jesus, took on the form of the flesh and lived the very life that we are living, with its ups and downs, trials and tribulations. He battled his way from a purely human consciousness to divine consciousness, where he became filled with love and was devoid of all fear. And he did this with his faith. He submitted his will to the Father’’s will. He reached that high plain of spiritual development where he could stand and not be moved by fear, where he stood in the spiritual presence of the heavenly Father spiritually invincible. And having mastered this human life, through him we may achieve the same triumph. We can move from purely human consciousness to divine consciousness. We can eliminate fear from our minds and souls and fill them with the consciousness of divine love.
But how do we achieve this? How do we begin this journey from human consciousness to divine consciousness? We know the way has already been prepared for us to achieve this. The victorious Jesus left behind His Spirit of Truth, the same spirit that guided and empowered him to make this never before momentous achievement of moving from purely human consciousness to divine consciousness. When the fields are fertile, a bountiful harvest can be expected. All that is needed is for the seeds to be planted. We consciously begin this momentous journey by submitting to the Father’’s will. By submitting to the Father’’s will, we learn how to do that will. With the power of the Spirit of Truth, we move from human consciousness to divine consciousness, remaining humanly consciousness just as Jesus did.
Now this process requires living faith on our part. Living faith is defined as that quality which grasps the living truth that no matter what happens to me, God’’s goodness remains. Jesus said that in the world we will have tribulations, but to be of good cheer because he has overcome the world. Therefore, we should conscious of the victorious human life on earth that is born of our faith, which dares to challenge each recurring episode of existence when confronted with the awful spectacle of human limitations, by the unfailing declaration: "Even if I cannot do this, there lives in me one who can and will do it,”” a part of the Father-Absolute of the universe of universes. And that is "the victory which overcomes the world, even your faith." The attitude of such a one is "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." It is our faith that propels us from purely human consciousness to divine consciousness.
As we traverse the road from human consciousness to divine, we are also traversing the road of divine perfection: self-mastery. By the technique of seeking and submitting to the Father’’s will in reoccurring challenging episodes, self-mastery gradually occurs.
Each time we seek the Father’’s will, we gain just a little bit more of divine consciousness. But we must be consistent in our efforts to discern the Father’’s will. As we progress, we leave behind all of the immature factors associated with moral immaturity. We become courageous and brave when confronting the challenges in our lives. We break the shackles of fear that keeps us chained to a purely human consciousness.
We should not become discouraged by our apparent slow progress. If we continue to seek the Father’’s will, our faith will eventually grow where it will grasp the divine consciousness. And once we faith grasp it, we will become convinced of our spiritual invincibility.
Once we faith-grasp the Father’’s presence, we will know that there exists no force in the universe that can harm us. With such consciousness, we are prepared to submit all the things that the human life can throw at us and remain unmoved by them.
If we know that we have eternal life and that the Father is within us, then there is no reason for fear of anything since we know we will emerge from all experiences spiritually intact. We know that experiences may cripple the material body, even destroy it, but we must be reminded of the admonitions of Jesus: "be not afraid of those who can kill the body, but who are not able to destroy the soul; rather put your trust in Him who is able to sustain the body and save the soul.”” We must believe that in those extreme supreme moments, the Father will provide us with whatever we need to successfully negotiate the experience.
Jesus says, "My grace is sufficient." And we should not be anxious nor afraid of eminent experiences for in that very instance, forthwith will appear the qualities that we need to conquer the experience as we submit to it, subject to the Father’’s will. This spirit of Truth pervades our souls with the fruit of the Spirit. These fruits are active at all times. We become aware of them consciously when they are needed with one of our experiences.
Thus, faith may not appear to be active until we are confronted with an experience that requires it. At such times, faith will rear its powerful head and take us across the barrier of doubt. And the same is true for the other qualities of the spirit.
To achieve this stupendous goal of divine consciousness, we must be willing to be any and all things necessary for such a supreme and masterful achievement. The Father cannot nor does not just make us conscious of His presence by one swoop. It is a slow and gradual process, and this is predicated on going through the experiences of life subject to His will, whereby we possess ourselves of all of those qualities that constitute his divine presence. And all of this happens if we only believe. ““Jesus lived his mortal life just as all other humans must live theirs,”” "who in the days of the flesh so frequently offered up prayers and supplications, even with strong feelings and tears, to Him who is able to save from all evil, and his prayers were effective because he believed."
There is security in the spirit——it is there whether we believe it or not, as long as we submit to the Father’’s will. But it is unlikely that we will submit to the Father’’s will without believing, for we must believe that he exists and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. As we continue to seek His will, a consciousness of the security of spirit increases. When the storm clouds of human existence looms, we should seek His will and we will find his security. Brothers and sisters, we must continue to seek his will until the fullness of growth occurs in which we become conscious of his divine presence.
This concludes today's message on the security of the spirit. 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 of Light
By Dr. James Perry
The Security of the Spirit
