The Yearning for God
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 shared many revelations of spiritual truth with me, and I want to share them with you. Today we discuss that unquenchable desire that yearns for God.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
The Yearning for God
"Jesus answered and said unto her, ‘‘if thou knew the gift of God, and who it is that said to you, give me to drink: thou would have asked for him, and he would have given you living water.’’" John, Chapter 4, Verse 10
All through the day,
All through the night
I seek your way.
Lost in a dry barren wilderness,
I search for some pure water to quench
My soul’’s unquenchable thirstiness.
My soul yearns for you,
Seeking to find clues
That are really true.
Brothers and sisters, what is the nature of this yearning and how do we satisfy it? This yearning for God has it origin in our souls. It was placed there by the Father when he created it. It is the desire to find and unite with its maker. It is our invitation to come home.
Oftentimes this yearning is not recognized for what it is. Many are the attempts to satisfy its call by material means. But though these material means may satisfy the material mind, they utterly fail to satisfy the deep longing of the soul. The soul cannot be satisfied by any means other than spiritual. It longs to commune with the heavenly Father, to satisfy its spiritual thirst with spiritual waters. But this thirst is also reoccurring--there is the periodic urge emanating from our souls.
This yearning for God is similar to a mass being pulled by gravity. It is a constant force that responds to the pull of the spiritual gravity of the heavenly Father, who draws all souls to himself. The response of this yearning to worship the heavenly Father never stops until we stand in his worshipful presence on Paradise. At such times the thirst becomes quenched eternally as our souls become eternally satisfied with the living waters. Our souls become one with the heavenly Father and continually sip of the waters of life.
To begin this process of reaching that state where our yearning, our search for God and finding God are eternally satisfied. We must make a bonafide decision to dedicate and consecrate our wills to doing the Father’’s will and be willing to be any and all things required to achieve such an eternal goal, being guided every step of the way by the mighty Spirit of Truth, the Spirit of the Son, Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life. When we dedicate and consecrate our will to doing the Father’’s will, we find the Father in spirit. At that point while we begin the long journey to find him in Person on Paradise. How do we make this journey? What are the tools that we use to make the journey?
With our God-given faith, we initiate this journey. Faith is the tool the Father gives us to make the mighty transformation from man to animal, to man the spirit. Faith creates a consciousness of the Father in our souls, and we respond by trusting him. Trust is vital for our sense of spiritual security--for tranquility of spirit and stability of spiritual purpose——for becoming perfect even as the heavenly Father is perfect. When we embrace these values our souls are bathed in an irrepressible living hope, which pulls us forward and keeps up afloat on the seas of trials and tribulations until we enter the harbor of eternal peaceful waters. Through prayer and worship, we receive our instructions.
The way is long and hard,
And struggle holds every card.
But in the end,
We shall all win
If we follow our dear Friend.
Having dedicated and consecrated our will to doing the Father’’s will and having found him in spirit, we begin the process of finding him in person by unselfishly loving our brothers and sisters. And as we master the technique of loving our brothers and sisters, we move closer and closer to his person. As we travel down the road of love, we also travel down the road of truth, beauty, and goodness, all of which are manifestations of the same thing--love. Love is in truth, beauty, and goodness, and truth, beauty, and goodness are in love. As we travel, we become increasingly like him as we are drawn closer and closer to him. This is important because we cannot recognize him until we have become completely like he is, as Jesus revealed.
Jesus has shown us the way to the Father: it is the way of love. He said: "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Continue in my love. If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’’s commandments and abide in his love.””
The search for the source of this yearning is the bestowal of unselfish love upon our brothers and sisters followed by the discovery of even more love to bestowed. This love can never have an end since it is eternal, infinite, and absolute. Just as ice cream has different flavors, so does love. It just goes on and on, conveying new meanings out of old ones as it is bestowed upon our brothers and sisters. These meanings are eternally joyful. As Jesus said: "These things have I spoken to you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." As we continue to bestow this love upon our brothers and sisters, we are slowly tracing our way back to the source of this love and increasingly satisfying the yearning in our souls. The cure for this yearning is the living water of love which hails from the God of love.
Ages upon ages seem to pass,
But trouble does not last.
Tears do not always flow.
Great smiles will also show.
We enter his eternal brace.
Having managed and run time’’s race,
He welcome us into his arms,
And we are filled with love’’s charm.
This concludes today's message on understanding the meaning and value of the yearning for God. 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.
Your Kingdom Come; Your Will Be Done!
Inspirational Messages of Light
By Dr. James Perry
The Yearning for God
