The Connections of Faith
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 connections of faith.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
The Connections of Faith
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews,
Chapter 11, Verse 1.
Brothers and sisters, we ponder how the connections of faith are valid and how ever-increasing
connections of faith further strengthens the faith-son. And while faith experiences are qualitatively
different from material one, they do share much in common in terms of their validity. Using a
material analogy as a springboard for spiritual elevation of the material mind, we seek to make clear
to our minds and souls that faith is the sole way for acquiring spiritual values and meanings. And
amid the clamoring of our material mind's chatter that time is running out and nothing has been
shown yet, we begin to realize that there is nothing that can be shown which would satisfy the
material mind. Already has the material mind been shown literally hundreds of thousands of spiritual
meanings. But it still remains unconvinced. The material mind cannot be shown spiritual values and
meanings in material terms because they do not exist. The human mind is limited in what it can
literally see when it comes to spiritual phenomenon.
When God created Adam and Eve, he gave them power to recreate themselves by reproduction, and
as this process continues until today. We owe our very existence to this process, which makes it
valid. If this process had not been faithfully repeated, we would not be here. And we can think of
other examples of connections that have progressed from generation to generations. Socially, wealth
is passed down this way. Each generation does its part to maintain and even increase the wealth, and
the person who controls the wealth today owes this control to the acts of his ancestors.
We must have some way of thinking about spiritual values and meanings and reasoning about the
faith process. I maintain that I am a representative of the Father through his Son, Jesus. Not only that:
I am one with him and am dedicated and consecrated to doing his will. The only way I can show this
truth is by faith reasoning. Though the objects of faith cannot be grasped by reasoning, once they are
grasped by faith, the process of reasoning with these faith-grasped objects is like any other reasoning
process. We start our reasoning process by faith-grasping these: the existence of God, the existence
of the life of Jesus--his Son-- on earth, and the Spirit of Jesus that envelops my mind and soul.
The Existence of God. As our minds goes further and further back through the chain of connections
through our various ancestor to the point where man himself actually appeared. On further still to
the point of animal life, plant life, and still further to the fact of lifeless material, on down to
molecules and atoms, and even further down to the energy that composes these atoms, on and on
until we have gone as far as we can go. At this point we must posit a first cause. We must declare
a first cause, that which causes the primal event--a cause that sets the whole process into motion and
maintains it. This is the first step in the faith connection: the existence of God. Continuing on with
this process of reasoning, we recognize that we are personal and self-conscious beings, having
minds, wills, and other personal attributes. Reason dictates that--at the very least--God must also be
personal and self conscious, with mind and will and other personal attributes. We also recognize that
we have a moral nature, that we can recognize right from wrong, and choose between the two. If we
have a moral nature, God must have a moral nature as well. It cannot be otherwise. That which is
recognized as superior must come from a greater superior source that at least includes the present
status.
The Life of his Son on Earth. Jesus reveals that he came from the Father, is the way to the Father,
and those who want to know what the Father is like, he should look at him. And though the
traditional written history of his life on earth is somewhat fragmented and incomplete, our minds
agree that the life he lived is exactly the kind of life that we would expect God to live if God were
present on earth living a human life. Jesus said that man was a son of God, that God was indeed
man's Father, and that if man believed in God, he would soon know the reality of that very
relationship. He would very soon grasp the divine values and meanings of the Father-son
relationship. Jesus would empower him to realize the truth that he was a son of God, in fact to realize
his oneness with the Father. Having searched our minds, we find no other life that even approaches
Jesus' before he came. It is a different story to consider his life after he came, as we shall see in the
next object of faith.
The Spirit of his Son, the Spirit of Truth. Now our minds must embrace the next and final phase
of faith validation. When the Son of God left, he said that he would send his spirit to dwell within
the minds and souls of man, thus teaching us how to become Godlike. And when we compare the
lives of human beings who have lived since his sojourn of earth, we find that there are some who
have come close to the pattern of life that he lived. Each generation of mortals living on earth come
closer to the ideals of his life, and with those mortals who consciously make the decision to faith
grasp their birthright, they display his character with almost perfection with ever increasing
perfection of technique.
We can see how these stages are cemented together. To doubt our oneness with the Heavenly Father
would be to doubt the very existence of God; the material mind even rebels against the disavowal
of a first cause. We must maintain, then, that over the years all the divine values that we have
grasped and all the divine meanings that have been made manifest prove their very existence.
Regardless of how earnestly our material minds seek to be shown, regardless of our doubts, our
minds cannot doubt the validity of the divine meanings that occur within it. Now the material mind
cannot demonstrate these meanings as it could demonstrate the meanings of something material. But
it can, at least spiritually, actually enjoy the meanings derived from the divines values that reside in
the soul. The divine values and meanings in our minds and souls are proof of our divine oneness
with the Father, and our dedication to them has made them apart of us. We are true sons and
daughters of the heavenly Father, and someday undoubtedly we will stand in his presence.
This concludes today's message on understanding the connections of faith. 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 Connections of Faith
