The Reality of Spiritual Experience

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 ponder the realities of spiritual experience.

And now, sit back and listen to today's message. 

The Realities of Spiritual Experience 

"Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot
sin, because he is born of God." First John, Chapter 3, Verse 9 

Brothers and sisters, today we shall explore the reality of spiritual experience in human experience.
We shall clarify what is meant by the phrase "he is a spiritual person" or "he is not spiritual." We
shall explore some of spiritual values and meanings and show how they function in our lives. We
know that the source of spiritual values and meanings dwells within our minds and souls, and this
very fact and truth gives rise to spiritual reality in human experience. This experience may reach
supreme levels or it may be the faintest flicker of a flame. But these realities are a part of all bonafide
human beings. To be truly human means that we have a spiritual nature, that we can experience
spiritual reality. 

The greatest of all spiritual realities is love. The Father is love. And this love is individualized in the
form of the divine spirit that indwells our minds and souls. This spirit of love radiates the love of the
heavenly Father through His Son, Jesus, on to his children. It is the wellspring of the unselfish
interest in others. It is the stimulus to attempt the conquest of the difficult present. It gives the self
the awareness of being loved by an all powerful, all merciful Father, one whose ears are always open
to the petitions of his children. This spirit of love remains with us during all experiences, "for he hath
said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." 

Now as you might imagine a love that so completely fills our minds and the souls must find an outlet
to bathe other souls. And this is by design: we must shower and bless other souls. When this does
not happen, the fault is never the spirit of love. It is always our fault. And this is so because this spirit
of love is always subject to our wills. Only we can allow this divine quality to function in our lives.
The spirit of love longs to be active but must patiently wait until such time as we allow it to be. It
is no mystery as to how this divine love can be in our minds and souls since we are the children of
love. Our minds are literally bombarded with the impulses, desires, and thoughts of the divine spirit.
But these influences remain a subjective noise among all the other purely human influences in our
minds and souls until we choose. 

The fact that these spiritual influences are subjective does not mean that they cannot be identified
and chosen. Like any other urge, desire, or thought, we have to decide which of these influences we
will choose to manifest. We are conscious of all the influences in our subjective minds, even though
we may not be aware of their sources. But that is not so strange because purely human impulses are
in our mind, but we do not know the source of them either. All we can do is choose them. 

But when we do choose the impulses of the Father's spirit, then these impulses translate from the
purely subjective potential level to the objective and actual level. They may range from a word of
encouragement, a selfless act, a willingness to relate to another brother or sister in a friendly and
loving way. Yes, the Father in heaven is very friendly as well as loving. And he delights when he is
allowed to be expressed this way. These divine impulses when allowed to flow through us
immediately bathes our souls, thus uplifting us as well. Divine love is real regardless of whether we
allow it to flow through us. But in order for it to be real to us, we must allow it to flow through us.
It's like forgiveness: we receive forgiveness as we forgive. 

When we allude to a person as being spiritual, we are referring to his dominant reaction to his moral
and spiritual environment. It is this fragrant outflowing of divine love that is recognized by the
spiritual sensitively that causes them to identify the person as being spiritual. It is the recognition that
the person is born of God. 

When it is said that a person is not spiritual, most of the time reference is being made to the fact that
the individual is primarily dominated by his animal nature. He is not born of God and therefore
cannot comprehend divine values and meanings. As the Apostle Paul said, "the natural man receiveth
not the things of spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them because
they are spiritually discerned." 

When we are born of God, we pray to the Father, communicate with him. It is the mechanism
whereby we learn to know the Father, learn to know his will. Under these transforming petitions, we
move from the childlike petitions to the mature communion of a spiritual adult. Maturity of the
spiritual child brings about greater appreciation of the Father's loving and merciful care. This two
way communication is also evidence of spiritual reality in human experiences. And this two-way
communication leads to the greater appearances of other spiritual qualities such as faith, goodness,
peace, gentleness, temperance, meekness, long suffering, peace, and joy. 

We also enjoy divine manifestations of truth, beauty, and goodness. These divisions of the Father's
love allows us to live our lives on a spiritual plane, whereby our lives are governed by a spiritual
value system. We extract divine values and meanings from our experiences. And we are sustained
by these spiritual values and meanings as opposed to being sustained by a material value system. All
of our moral activities are correlated with a spiritual value system. And our greatest joy and sense
of satisfaction spring from the same. Our souls are nourished by spiritual energies rather than
material energies. And our chief purpose and ideal for living is spiritual rather than material.
Spiritual reality has reached supreme levels in our lives. 

Finally there is worship. The worship practice is the hallmark of spiritual reality in human
experiences. Worship is not only the recognition of the heavenly Father, but it is the wholehearted
desire to be like him. Worship makes the worshiper like the one who is worshiped. It is an
outpouring of affection and adoration for a matchless character, the one above all others. It is the
practice of divine oneness. It is the process of becoming one with God as God becomes one with us.
It is the union of wills, one human will made divine. Worship is a soul satisfying and refreshing
practice. 

This concludes today's message on understanding the reality of spiritual experience in human
experience. 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 Reality of Spiritual Experience.