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 spiritual realization of eternal values and meanings.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
The Spiritual Realization of Eternal Values and Meanings
Jesus said unto them: "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 of my hand." John, Chapter 10, Verses 27-28
Brothers and sisters, in today’’s broadcast we share further insights into the grasp of the realization of the eternal values and meanings of eternal life. We know that in order to grasp eternal values and meanings, we must expand our consciousness so that we can take in the panorama of eternal values and meanings. While it is not possible to comprehend the full impact of infinite values and meanings, we can capture the quality of absolute values and meanings in our souls, and this is possible because the source of absolute values and meanings, the Father’’s spirit, dwells within our minds and souls. So the task is to expand our spiritual consciousness to the point where our grasp of eternal values and meanings becomes real. Let us consider a material analogy first.
If you place an ant upon a globe, he will travel around the globe, but never will he travel the exact same path. As the ant makes his trek around the globe, it will leave a trail of where it has been. From the ant’’s perspective, wherever it has been is the past. Where it is exactly at this instance is the present, and where it is going is the future. The ant’’s consciousness is so circumscribed that it can only grasp minute portions of the globe. A human being who can observe the ant on its trek sees the ant and also sees the entire globe. The ant’’s past, present, and future are not a part of the human being’’s consciousness as it is for the ant, who cannot see all of the globe.
Now this is the problem of the Father, whose consciousness takes in the whole of the eternal continuum and who desires to share in the finite existence of his children. By detaching a fragment of his spirit and placing it in the temporal mind of man, the Father shares in the trek of the mortal ant as he makes his way across the face of eternity. This way the Father--through his spirit fragment--can share in the experience of the mortal as the mortal discovers divine values and meanings.
Prior to experiencing the consciousness of the divine spirit, the mortal experiences temporal values. These are the values of a purely material life. They are temporary, fading as life continues to live. Material values are not sustaining——they do nothing for our inner longings. But how does the mortal realize divine values and meanings? How does he expand his consciousness so that he can see, as it were, with the eyes of the spirit? Here is another analogy that may help us to grasp the problem.
During the 18th century, mathematicians struggled with trying to solve problems involving elliptical integrals. One intrepid soul worked on this problem for over forty years and still did not come close to the solution. Finally a new mind appeared on the scene and decided to look at the problem from a different point of view. In this case, by taking the inverse function of the elliptical integral, he solved the problem fairly easily. Basic to his philosophy was to assume the solution and then work his way back to see how he got there. This philosophy and technique can be applied to our problem of achieving spiritual goals. What we need to do is to assume that we have reached the goal and then look back to see how we did it. By doing so we can then apply the steps that led us to the achievement. This saves a lot of time and helps us to solve a problem that would otherwise elude us.
And now are ready to tackle the problem of the spiritual realization of eternal values and meanings. The questions: How does the mortal realize these divine values and meanings? How does he expand his consciousness so that he can as it were see with the eye of the spirit?
We began by assuming that we have realized eternal spiritual values and meanings. Since Jesus gives us eternal life even while we live in the flesh, we can assume that the values and meanings of living as mortals also exist within us. And having done that we now look back and see how we accomplished this. Looking back from the circle of eternity through the eyes of the divine spirit, we see all the steps involved in reaching this goal. If we wondered what our true purpose is and how we discovered it, we can realize that our true purpose is to love God with all our heart, mind, and soul and our neighbors as ourselves. We discovered this purpose gradually, through prayer/worship and in relationships with those who were seeking the Father. We used faith to achieve this goal, unlike what we used when, say, solving a math problem (reason and logic).
We can do this because faith connects us with the divine eternal spirit. Once connected, we can see with the eyes of the spirit. Since the spirit is eternal, the divine values and meanings of the spirit are eternal. We can understand and comprehend the eternal divine values and meanings of the spirit. Faith not only connects us to the divine spirit, but it also takes future values and meanings (potential) and makes them available now (as if they were actual). Faith is the only mechanism that can translate potential values into actual values. Once we stand in faith, we can look back as it were and see how these states were achieved.
Finally to realize the eternal values and meanings of divine sonship, we must assume this realization by faith, and we can look back and see how we accomplished this status. In looking back, we realized that not only did we accomplish this realization by faith, but faith is the only way that we could have done so. And we know this is true because once we faith-grasp this realization, we begin to comprehend immediately the values and meanings associated with this state. We transcended the circumscribed viewpoint of the consciousness of the ant, having arrived at the spiritual consciousness of eternal values and meanings. And having arrived, life takes on a whole new perspective. We now have the awareness of the spiritual consciousness to transcend the purely temporal values and meanings of life. We realize that not only do we live in a universe of divine values and meanings but we experience these values and meanings daily by faith. We experience divine love
.
And we can immediately see that this divine value, the greatest of all, is eternal, for God is love. Divine love has no beginning and no end: it is always present. And while the meanings of love are constantly changing, it’’s quality remains. It is not affected by the ups and downs of temporal life. In fact this is one of the ways that we separate it from the temporal value of human love, which is tied to the ups and downs of material life. The divine value of love is absolutely unconditional and is like water always seeking the lowest level, always seeking to go where it is absent. It is kind and merciful. It is never boastful, always humble, and unassuming. We are constantly amazed to continuously discover new meanings of this divine affection as we love our neighbors as ourselves and love God with all of our hearts.
This concludes today's message on understanding the spiritual realization of eternal values and meanings. 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.
The Spiritual Realization of Eternal Values and Meanings
Inspirational Messages
By Dr. James Perry
Your Kingdom Come; Thy Will Be Done!
The Spiritual Realization of Eternal Values and Meanings
