The Assurance of the Father's Love
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 will ponder our lives as we seek to understand the assurance of the
Father's love.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
The Assurance of the Father's Love
Jesus said, "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you
forever." John, Chapter 14, Verse 17.
Brothers and sisters,"Not my will, but your will be done" is the eternal desire and "Be you perfect
even as your heavenly Father is perfect" is the eternal command. The eternal desire is in response
to the eternal command. The union of the eternal desire with the eternal command is eternal life.
Whatever the true son desires, and the Father wills, is. What is the assurance of the son who desires
to do the Father's will? How can he know that he is doing the Father's will? Does the Father give
assurances? If so what is the nature of those assurances?
While the divine Son, Jesus, lived on earth in the flesh, he was asked by John the Baptist who was
in prison if he were the one, or should he look for another? Jesus did not directly answer John's
question in either the negative or the positive. He rather told John that the sick were being healed,
that the poor were comforted, and the good news preached to them. In another event later in his
ministry, Jesus was asked what his credentials were for the work he was doing. He replied that the
very work he was doing was the proof of his credentials.
What kind of assurance does the earthly father give to his offspring that they are indeed his children?
How does the earth child know that he is pleasing his earthly father? The fact that the earthly child
is unable to perfectly follow the earthly father's instructions does not invalidate the child's joy or the
child's assurance that the earthly father is pleased. Nor does it invalidate the earthly father's joy in
his child or the fact that the father is the child's father.
The earthly father loves the child at all stages of his existence. The earthly father sees himself in his
child, and as it were watches himself grow and develop. The earthly father sees the potential and
value of the child. The love of the earthly father for his child gives the child the assurance that the
father is indeed pleased, as well as acknowledging his paternity. The earthly child's father gives
material assurances for his material child.
We are children of the heavenly Father. Like the material child, the spiritual child (the soul) must
also grow and develop into a full spiritual adult. The heavenly Father is the Father of our souls. Our
souls comprehend the spiritual Father and respond to the spirit Father. The Father's love and His
spiritual watchcare are the assurances of the spiritual child. This creates somewhat of a paradox for
our material minds: self consciousness is associated with the material self, and material self
consciousness is not the same as the soul consciousness. The soul is conscious of values.
Doing the Father's will is a matter of faith. No amount of logic can prove to the material mind that
we are doing the Father's will, though the doing of the Father's will is consistent with logic, the logic
of faith. The Father in heaven looks at the child's potential. The Father naturally loves his children
and rejoices in them. At some point, the child will eventually do the Father's will in divine
perfection, but starting out as he does as an imperfect soul, it is not possible for him to perfectly copy
and execute the Father's will.
As spiritual children though, we are able to conceive of doing the Father's will in perfection-the
ideal. We find that we lack the wisdom to execute the divine will in perfection as our experiences
disclose error and evil. But the fact of error and evil does not invalidate our relationship with our
heavenly Father, for as we grow and develop, error and evil are eliminated from our experiences by
the mighty Spirit of Truth. For when we complete our development in the Spirit of Truth, there will
be neither error nor evil present within us--those measures of incompleteness.
As we, develop we will increasingly manifest the qualities of the Father in our lives, for the Father
gives us assurances by making us, his spiritual children, increasingly like Himself. Thus the degree
of divine assurance is equal to the degree of Godlikeness. The Father's will is consciously desired
but unconsciously done.
The conception of truth and the transformation of our souls take place on a level beyond
consciousness. Therefore, the highest good is always unconscious. But the fruits of this process are
abundantly forthcoming in the outward reactions of our souls. The fruits of the spirit are the outward
proof of our living relationship with the spiritual Father. while faith and trust are the inward
assurances of our relationship with the Father so that the work that we do becomes the proof of our
credentials. The Father is love, and love flows through all of His true sons and daughters.
This concludes today's message on understanding the assurance of the Father's Love. 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 Assurance of the Father's Love
