The Value of Divine Righteousness
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 the value of divine righteousness.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
The Value of Divine Righteousness
Jesus said, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be
filled." Matthew Chapter 5, Verse 6.
A mighty ocean lies in its basin responding to the gravity pull of the moon and the sun. This ocean
is composed of countless drops of water. As the sun shines, a drop of water is vaporized. It is
changed into a gas and floats up into the sky where it is collected with other drops of water. In some
area, far, far away from its origin, some drops will fall over the land as rain, sleet, hail, or snow. To
an unwise observer, this process appears to be arbitrary, but this is not the case. There are precise
physical laws governing this process. The first drop of water to enter this ocean will be the last drop
to enter the vaporization process; whereas, the last drop to enter the ocean will be the first to enter
the vaporization process. Thus, it can be seen that the last shall be first, and the first shall be last.
Brothers and sisters, the value of divine righteousness is not always apparent in the world today.
Righteousness contributes to the harmony of the whole. Self righteousness can never contribute to
the harmony of the whole because it fails to perceive the whole. Self righteousness has no
consistency since its value level is low rather than high. A self righteous person cannot act in truly
righteous ways because his motive is selfish. Selfishness and divine righteousness are incompatible,
like trying to mix oil and water. A self righteous person is trying to protect something that is of
supreme importance to himself only. When a true spiritual value confronts him, he responds with
a deaf ear and blind eye. The self righteous person tries to divert the resources of the whole to the
service of the self, rather than using the resources of the self in service to the whole. The lot of such
an actor is one devastating experience after another.
Brothers and sisters, when we pursue divine righteousness--righteousness of the whole rather than
of the part--we pursue good rather than evil. Divine righteousness develops faith, trust, courage,
understanding, wisdom and spiritual insight. The reasoning behind the righteousness of a given act
is not always apparent, but the righteousness of the act is. Faith is required to execute that which we
can not see the reasoning behind, while wisdom is the result of carrying out such a righteous act. We
know that in order to reach the final value we must develop the courage to act on that which may not
be in our immediate self interest. However, if the act serves the interest of the whole, it will
automatically serve our own true interest since we are a part of the whole. It is this failure to
recognize that we are all a part of the whole that threatens to destroy our civilization.
When we pursue divine righteousness, we pursue divine love--the unselfish desire to help others. We
simply cannot act in another's interest unless we divinely love them. Selfish love cannot reach the
spiritual heights necessary to achieve true spiritual insight since it remains focused on the self rather
than the heavenly Father. True spiritual insight recognizes true values in all areas of life, not just the
temporary values that society has recognized. True spiritual insight allows us to discover all the
intangible values of the heavenly Father, even the discovery of the final value, the heavenly Father
Himself--the source of all true spiritual values.
This concludes today's message on the value of divine righteousness. 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 Value of Divine Righteousness
