Further Insight Into Doing the Father's Will
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 further insight into doing the Father’’s Will.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
Further Insight into Doing the Father’’s Will
Jesus said, "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work." John, Chapter 4, Verse 34
Brothers and sisters, in today’’s broadcast we share further insight into doing the Father’’s will. We know that doing the Father’’s will is the process of becoming like Him, but what are the outward repercussions of our decisions as we strive to do the Father’’s will. What is the relationship to doing the Father’’s will and the accidents of time that may cut short our efforts to do the Father’’s will while in the flesh? When John the Baptist launched forth proclaiming the coming of Jesus, where there spiritual forces protecting him, and if so to what degree? And what about Jesus himself? Were there spiritual forces protecting him until he could complete his mission. And what about the Apostles who went forth to proclaim the Gospel as they saw it? Were there some spiritual protection that shielded them from the premature conclusion of their mission? And lastly what about us? Are there spiritual forces protecting us as we carry out the divine plan for our lives?
We know that there are times when spiritual forces intervene in the material affairs of mortals, but this is rare. When it does happen it is because of the special function that the individual has to play in the spiritual economy of the planet. For example, when Peter was arrested early in his ministry, spiritual forces intervened and released him from prison. But then later on, after his ministry had run its course, the spiritual forces no longer protected him from the natural flow, permitting him to be killed. James, the brother of John, was killed early in his ministry. He was not shielded from the natural flow of life. John the Baptist appears to have been protected from the natural flow of life until he had announced the ministry of Jesus, and then the natural course of the rest of his life proceeded.
We also know that the plans of the spiritual forces are not revealed to us beforehand. So we live our lives with uncertainty, never knowing what is going to happen from moment to moment. And we are told the reason is that it is necessary for our spiritual success. And since we don’’t know if we have some special role to play in the spiritual economy, it would be better if we assumed that we did not. Thus, we must further refine our concept of doing the Father’’s will.
When we seek to do the Father’’s will, we almost always think in terms of doing something. The word "do" causes difficulty, for our minds always translate ““do”” into some external action. Though doing the Father’’s will always translates into the way we do things, it is more about how we are. It refers to the degree that we have aligned our wills with the Father’’s will--the degree of divine perfection that we have obtained. The way we do things is a reflection of the choices that we make on the inside (that is, whether we have chosen the Father’’s will or have chosen our own).
We know that there are several stages of doing the Father’’s will in perfection in the flesh. Only in the final stage is the character perfected, and thus will the decisions that this character makes will be reflective of the degree of divine perfection achieved. Each one of the stages below the final stage of divine perfection will reflect a certain degree of divine perfection attainment. Since there are several stages of doing the Father’’s will while in the flesh, there must also be a corresponding level of character perfection representing the degree of divine perfection.
To make clear this concept, let us consider this analogy. If you are driving down the highway at, say, a speed of five miles per hour, you are exerting a force on the gas pedal that will achieve that speed. If you are traveling at ten miles per hour, then the force that you are applying to the gas pedal is equal to provide that degree of speed. The same holds if you are traveling at any given speed. It requires a precise amount of force on the gas pedal to deliver the exact speed that you are traveling. If you exert too much force or not enough force, you exceed the speed or underachieve the speed.
This same principle applies as we negotiate the stages of divine perfection. Since the degree of divine righteousness is equal to the faith applied, the degree to which we perfect our character, the degree to which we do the Father’’s will, is a measure of our spiritual faith. And the measure of our spiritual faith is equivalent to the degree of our desire, the supremacy of it. Our spiritual desire has become supreme when all other desires are below it and no other desires are above it. The force that we exert on the traversal of the several stages of perfect is supreme faith.
Now we are in a position to understand the uniqueness of doing the Father’’s will for each individual. The potential for divine perfection is unique to each individual. And though all of these potentials eventually emerge as a perfected character, at any given time in the individual, the degree of achievement will vary when compared to each other. In other words, in one individual, the choosing of the Father’’s will, the highest level of understanding and wisdom possessed may not be the same as in another individual who may possess a higher understanding and wisdom than the other person. But each person in choosing the highest level of wisdom and understanding that they possess is in fact choosing the Father’’s will.
Now when we choose the Father’’s will, the fruits of the spirit are the same in each individual (subject to the Father’’s will), but the application of those fruits to the moral and spiritual situation we face will vary, depending on the degree of character perfection and thus the degree of doing the Father’’s will in perfection. Consider this analogy of ascending numbers which reflect this process, the numbers standing for our ability to execute the divine will in perfection: 1 is greater than 0, but 2 is greater than 3; 4 is greater than 3, but 5 is greater than 4; and 6 is greater than 5, but 7 is greater than 6; 8 is greater than 7 but on the other hand 9 is greater than 8, while 10 is greater than 9. As we look at these numbers we see that each number is relative to the number preceding it. And we use this analogy to illustrate that doing of the Father’’s will is relative when compared to each individual, although for that individual the level of choosing the Father’’s will is supreme for that individual. Some individuals can choose a higher level of doing the Father’’s will than others. And this is of course related to the spiritual growth and status of each individual.
Finally since we have no way of knowing whether we are operating in a special capacity in regards to the spiritual economy and thus protected from the normal flow of life for that period of service, and since we have no knowledge of unfolding events, no way of knowing whether the outward choices that we have made are apart of the divine plan for our lives since ignorance of the future is essential for our spiritual success, we should focus our energies on the concept of doing the Father’’s will as acquiring a character like His Son, Jesus.
We should use all the faith we can muster to copy the character of the divine Son, and we do this by the wholehearted desire to do the Father’’s will. In doing this, the kind of outward moral and spiritual decisions we make will depend on our degree of character perfection. And as we continue with the process, our character perfection will eventually approach that of the Jesus as he lived in the flesh, and we will see moral and spiritual problems the way that he sees them and will decide accordingly. And we will know when we have reached the apex of divine perfection because there will be no higher decision that we can conceive of or make that is true, beautiful, and good, that is full of love, mercy, patience, and forgiveness. The passing of time will validate the righteousness of our decisions. We will have achieved divine perfection in the flesh by faith.
This concludes today's message on further insight into doing the Father’’s will. 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!
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By Dr. James Perry
Further Insight Into Doing the Father's Will
