The Sorrow of the Father's Love
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 ponder the sorrow of the Father's love.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
The Sorrow of the Father's Love
"And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let
all bitterness, and wrath and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with
all malice." Ephesians, Chapter 4, Verses 30 and 31.
An old rotting tree stands. In the background, a cold barren desert looms, the sands of which are
blown to and fro by the howling bleak winds. On the lowest limb of this rotten tree, a small sparrow
is perched, waiting for what it knows not. Close inspection reveals tear stained tracks along its
narrow face, and a look at its eyes reveals a glassy stare. Night is rapidly approaching, as the visible
light from behind the clouds follows the sun sinking behind the distant horizon. A snowflake or two
begins to fall.
Brothers and sisters, doing the Father's will is of supreme importance. It is literally a matter of life
and death--eternal life or eternal death. The Father is spirit, and must express His spiritual will
through us via his divine son, Jesus. But the Father's will is infinite, eternal, and absolute, just like
He is. The maximum reduction that the Father is capable of divinely reducing Himself to our
comprehension requires the maximum spiritual effort from us. In order for us, his sons and daughters
to comprehend that divine will through His Son, Jesus, we must make the maximum spiritual effort.
When we first began this spiritual quest to be perfect even as the Father is perfect through His Son,
Jesus, our spiritual effort is far below the maximum effort required to comprehend the divine will.
This is analogous to an athlete who desires to achieve some goal, for example the high jump. An
athlete may start out only able to jump a fraction of the height that is possible for him to eventually
reach, but as he consistently practices, gradually those changes occur in his body that makes it
possible for him to reach his goal.
In a spiritual sense, something of a similar nature takes place. Lets take the spiritual phenomenon
of prayer. We may sustain the loss of a loved one. Initially we are overwhelmed by the tidal waves
of grief and stunned by the shock of the loss. We begin praying for strength and courage without
ceasing. Later we pray to be delivered from the depression and sense of loss. As continue to pray,
we reach a point in our prayer life where we challenge the Father's wisdom in taking our loved one,
since this act has had such a disruptive impact on our lives.
Finally either gradually or suddenly, we receive the revelation of God's mercy and become satisfied
with his wisdom. Our tortured souls finally ascend to the supreme levels where our wills become one
with the Father's will, and we receive a vision of the salvation of God, the revelation of truth. We
receive that peace that passes all understanding. We no longer feel troubled by the loss, as we realize
that nothing of spiritual value is ever lost. Equipped with this vision of salvation, our souls now cry,
"Though he slay me, yet will I serve Him."
An analysis of this process goes something like this: Only those prayers that are consistent with the
Father's will can be answered and only the supreme effort exerted by us can recognize the answer.
In the beginning, our requests are not likely to be consistent with the Father's will and neither is our
effort likely to be maximum. The force of persistence allows faith to intensify the desire, while the
passing of time allows the Father's spirit to gradually realign the human will with the divine will.
When our desires become maximum and our will and the Father's will becomes one, that instant
recognition of the answer to the prayer is received.
Faith is very important in this process, for while belief is only required to initiate the prayer process,
faith is essential to continue and complete the process. Without faith in the process, persistence is
impossible. The very faith is the gift of the spirit Father in response to the praying soul to believe.
The son supplies the desire; the Father supplies the faith. The growth of the faith parallels the growth
of the desire. As the desire grows, so does the faith. Belief is the desire to believe that something
spiritual exists, that this spiritual reality is friendly and related to our spiritual needs. Faith is the
conviction, the reality of what we spiritually believe, and is accurate in direct proportion to its
alignment with the divine will. In material reality, the five senses give validity to the things of
material world, makes them real. But in the spiritual world, faith gives validity to the values of the
spiritual world, makes them real.
The Father's spirit waits patiently with love and power for us to begin that spiritual striving that
eventuates in doing the Father's will. It suffers disappointment after disappointment as we
halfheartedly begin the journey only to turn away when the way becomes difficult, or when we take
a route that is consistent with the preconceived ideas of our will. His spirit suffers disappointment
after disappointment while we supremely pursue other loyalties. It suffers anguish and pain as we
entertain evil thoughts of unrighteousness. It remains paralyzed when we allow fear to rob us of our
ability to make courageous decisions. And like the small sparrow sitting on the gnarled limb of a
dying tree, it suffers the supreme disappointment when we forever turn our back on the Father's will;
conversely, it enjoys supreme satisfaction and pleasure when we dedicate our will supremely to
doing the Father's will.
This concludes today's message on the meaning of the sorrow of 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 Sorrow of the Father's Love
