When Time Meets Eternity
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 seek to understand what it means when time meets eternity.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
When Time Meets Eternity
"And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck
them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them to me is greater than all and no man is able
to pluck them out of my hand." John, Chapter 10, Verse 29.
Brothers and sisters, we are time beings, and Jesus is an eternal being. Time has met eternity when
we meet Jesus through prayer. We know that prayer--when indicted by the spirit--suffers no delays
in its reception nor does it encounter any handicaps. These petitions ignore time. The consequences
of time meeting eternity is that spiritual values are received as needed.
From the time perspective, we are conscious of a past, present, and a future. Thus we can look back
over our past experiences, can perceive a spiritual need for the future, as well as exist in the present.
Thus if we know that we have a challenging experience next week, we might now starting asking
the Father for help. From the eternal viewpoint, the past, present, and future all exist now. Therefore,
time can only meet eternity in the present. Since there is no consciousness of past or future in
eternity, answers to prayers can only be answered in the present moment.
The Father, being eternal, is related to time as the everlasting now. There is a mathematical concept
that may help us in visualizing this juxtaposition of time with eternity: the tangent. The idea of the
tangent involves a curve and a straight line. There is only one point where the line touches the curve.
This point is called the tangent. Lets divide the line into three equal points, which we designate as
the past, present, and future. If the line is moving passed the tangent point, then the area in front of
the tangent might be viewed as the past; the area behind the tangent point might be viewed as the
future since it has not yet touched the tangent point. Likewise, the period of time that has moved
beyond the point where time meets eternity from the time perspective is the past, while the area that
has not reached the point where time meets eternity is the future. Since eternity is curved and the
fragments of time are straight, there is only one point where time touches eternity and that is the
now.
Time is a fragment of eternity. No matter how brief time becomes even if it should become instant,
it is still contained with eternity. No matter how long its duration, even if its duration should become
infinite, it is still contained within infinity. Eternity is infinite and infinity is eternal. Eternity is
related to time as the everlasting now. This is so because the Universal Father who is eternal and
infinite is related to time as the everlasting now. There is no past or future with the Eternal Father,
all is contained within His reality. From the time perspective, it would appear that since time passes
for us, there are past experiences that have already been attained; present experiences that are
currently being experienced, and a future which contains experiences that have not been experienced.
Now that we have established the point where time and eternity are juxtaposed, what is the
mechanism that allows temporal prayers to enter the eternal realm? We know that realms of eternity
open only in response to the since desire of the petitioner. By believing in Jesus, we are given eternal
life even while we live our lives in the flesh. That means that the eternal divine values and meanings
can be experienced now. By entering the Kingdom of Heaven now, eternal values and meanings are
made available to us as soon as we request them. But if we are receiving eternal values in the
temporal state, then we must align our time existence with the eternal state.
And we do this when we are confronted with a decision that we need divine help with, by reflecting
upon our past experiences, and drawing from them whatever values may be helpful in solving our
problems, and by forecasting the possible effect of the projected decision upon the future.
Remember, divine values and meanings that are received are eternal; thus these values and meanings
must function in the now, which are inclusive of past, present, and future.
The decision must reckon with the wisdom gained from our past experiences as well as our future
forecasts of such a decision that we must make in the present. But when making a decision of this
quality, this decision is freed from the constraints of time because they take in consideration past,
present, and future significance. The time decision has met the eternal decision. All this can be
summed up by saying, think before you act. We know that when we think before we act, we not only
consider our past experiences, but the consequences of the decision that we are contemplating
making, and we adjust our decision accordingly.
Now that we have an understanding of how time meets eternity, we are able to understand the
mandates for receiving divine help, the answer to our prayers. When we pray, we should remember
that our petitions have to enter where time meets eternity, and this is always the "now". Jesus said
to his disciples, ". . . seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; all of these things shall
be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for tomorrow: for tomorrow shall take thought for the
things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." Since the Father is eternal and we must
meet him in the now, He does not give spiritual help before it is needed.
The help that the Father gives is always "now." Therefore it is senseless to be anxious about events
that have not occurred. When the event occurs, we will have all the necessary spiritual help and
guidance and direction that is needed to solve the particular spiritual problem at hand. Jesus says,
"Come to me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give your rest. Take my yoke upon
you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."
Meeting with Jesus is where time meets eternity, and when time meets eternity, the fullness of
eternal values flow into the time moment, basking our souls with the Father's love and His Son's
mercy.
This concludes today's message on understanding the meaning when time meets eternity. 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!
When Time Meets Eternity
