The Nature of Divine Thoughts
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 nature of divine thoughts.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
The Nature of Divine Thoughts
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all
things are become new." Second Corinthians, Chapter 5, Verse 17.
Brothers and sisters, in today's broadcast we shall consider the nature of divine thoughts. Now that
we are safe in the arms of Jesus, there are many things that we can now do and understand, that were
impossible before of understanding and doing. Jesus said: "Nevertheless, I declare to you, except a
man be born of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit." It is this born-again experience that creates the
new creature, and today we would like to explore some of the characteristics of this new creature.
How does this new creature differ from the old one? Well the new creature is still human. He eats,
sleeps, and pursues all of the normal material functions of the world as before. But there is one
startling difference: The new creature has a new value system. And it is spiritual as opposed to
material. Now this new value system must exist in the mind of the old creature. As long as he is
living in the flesh, the new creature must render to Caesar the things of Caesar and render to God
the things that are God. In short, he must still obey all of the material laws governing his existence,
but he has been given the privilege of having a set of spiritual laws by which to abide. Whereas the
material laws are limiting, the spiritual laws are liberating. Here the new creature may truly be free
of the laws of the flesh.
Now before this new creature was potential: his embryonic soul was incubating. But after the
liberating touch of the Spirit of Truth, this embryonic soul opens its eyes and beholds the wonders
of the Father's Kingdom, the marvelous values of truth, beauty, and goodness, and the conscious
experience of divine love. Before the new birth, the old creature could only follow the laws of the
flesh. This selfish nature was designed for self perpetuation as modified by the social mores. But
after the new birth, a new quality comes into existence. In this new quality, the new creature is no
longer concerned with self perpetuation as a supreme reality but experiences the assurance of eternal
life. The problem of survival has been vanquished, replaced by the consciousness of eternal life, a
life of unending growth and discovery. Instead of the morbid view of impending mortal death, the
new creature sees this initial life as no more than the beginning of his birth, rather than his death.
Before the new birth, the old creature may have been religious and may have contemplated life after
death. The old creature may have read about divine values and may have been intellectually aware
of the divine meanings, but he has never consciously experienced the divine love of the Father, has
never experienced security in the face of uncertainty; has never experienced faith in the face of
doubt; has never experienced goodness in the face of evil; has never experienced gentleness in the
face of the aggressive flesh nature; has never experienced temperance in the face of the never-ending
demands of the fleshly nature for more and more; has never experienced meekness in the face of the
egoistic flesh; has never experienced long suffering in the face of the demands of the self for what
it wants, and what it wants now; has never experienced peace in the face of material turmoil; and has
never experienced joy in the face of deep sorrow.
The old creature may look at the experience of love in the new creature and say this is the same
creature who is psychologically attempting to be secure in the face of insecurity; the same old self
trying to be optimistic in the face of harsh reality; brave in the face of evil; gentle because he lacks
the power to be aggressive; temperate because he lacks the driving power to get what he wants; meek
because he lacks drive, lacks ambition; long suffering because he can do nothing else; peaceful
because he has resigned himself to the inevitable; or joyful because he accepts his lot and makes the
best of it. Yes, the old creature may say these and many other similar things.
But the love that new creatures experience is the affection of an all-powerful heavenly Father; the
faith that he is expressing is grounded in the truth of the power of the Father's control over all divine
reality. The goodness that he experiences is the result of the invincible and reliable moral and
spiritual character of the Father. The gentleness that he displays is the result of being in the presence
of his all-powerful and all-merciful Father. The temperance that he displays is the result of unifying
his personality under the sustaining power of worship of the Father. The meekness that he displays
is the result of being in relation with the all-powerful and all-loving Father. The long suffering that
he displays is the result of experiencing divine reality, of experiencing truth, of knowing that the
meanings of truth unfold in an orderly and timely manner, coordinated to his capacity and ability to
comprehend them. The peace that he experiences is the peace of being in right relationship with God,
being righteous, where he enjoys all of the prerogatives and privilege of divine sonship. The joy that
he experiences is the joy of knowing that nothing of spiritual value is ever lost, the awareness that
spiritual values are conserved.
After the new birth, the old creature experiences the new life "now." And this is best characterized
by the kind of thoughts that the new creature experiences, the kind of values and meanings that are
of supreme joy. The new creature begins conscious communication with his Father through His Son,
Jesus, immediately. He begins to experience divine thoughts. Now these thoughts are the meanings
of truth and goodness derived from the divine values that the Father reveals in his soul. It is this new
mind that transmutes the divine values in the soul to meanings of the mind and these occur through
the process of thinking divine thoughts. "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God,
comprehend the meanings of truth and goodness.
The pure mind is free of selfish and animalistic tendencies. It is preoccupied only with translating
externally divine values and meanings. It seeks to know the Father's will as to the best way to reveal
these in merciful ministry to others. As he seeks for these meanings and values, his thoughts reflect
the same, and he comprehends them. Ask, and you shall receive the divine values and meanings
needed for a particular display of the Father's character in any given situation. Ask, and you shall
receive the divine wisdom to effectively portray the divine values of the spirit.
As the new self continues to communicate with the Father--seeking divine values and meanings and
receiving them--he becomes aware that he is in effect communicating with the Father. He is in effect
thinking divine thoughts, and these divine thoughts are always true, beautiful, and good. He is in
constant communication with the Father through the Spirit of Truth, but the new creature only
functions on spiritual levels of reality, the level of divine values and meanings, never on the level
of material values and meanings. These spiritual qualities of values and meanings are superimposed
on the material activities of the old creature. So instead of reacting in an animalistic way to the
problems of life, the new creatures reacts with love and mercy.
This concludes today's message on understanding the nature of divine thoughts. 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 Nature of Divine Thoughts
