Working the Partnership
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 shared many revelations of spiritual truth with me, and I want to share them with you. In today’’s broadcast we discuss the growth and maturity of our partnership with the heavenly Father.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
Working the Partnership
Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." John, Chapter 5, Verse 19
"When man and God go into partnership, great things can and do happen."
Good morning brothers and sisters, in today discussion we shall discuss the mature functioning of the partnership with the heavenly Father through His Son Jesus. We shall discuss the initiation of the partnership, the growth of the partnership, stages of the growth of the partnership, completion of the partnership, and finally working the partnership. We shall discuss the role of prayer and worship in the partnership as well as the function of the guardian angels.
This unique partnership begins when the mortal develops to the point where he can make moral choices, where he is able to choose between a higher and a lower choice, the choice between right and wrong, good and evil. When the mortal acquires his moral nature by actually choosing between good and evil, then the Father’’s spirit comes to indwell his mind. This relationship between the divine spirit and the mortal mind initiates the divine partnership. The social and the ethical environment provide the raw material where the human is given the opportunity to choose good over evil, to make moral choices. When he chooses good over evil, he is choosing the Father’’s will and is actively involved in the initial phases of the partnership;
As the mortal continues to grow and develop, he increasingly encounters the stimuli of progressively difficult moral and spiritual choices. "Every time man makes a reflective moral choice, he immediately experiences a new divine invasion of his soul. Moral choosing constitutes religion as the motive of inner response to outer conditions. But such a real religion is not a purely subjective experience. It signifies the whole of the subjectivity of the individual engaged in a meaningful and intelligent response to total objectivity ———— the universe and its Maker." This is the material the divine spirit uses to grow the soul, and as the soul grows so does the partnership. The growth of the soul reflects its increasing ability to discern the divine will. This is so because, as the soul grows, it becomes increasingly like the divine will and is thus able to recognize it.
There are several stages of the growth process of partnership with God. The first stage is the arrival of the divine spirit in the mind which creates the soul and sets the stage for the increasing conflicts that result from the necessity of choosing good over evil, of making moral choices. In this stage the soul exhibits a willingness to believe in God and thus begins the long process of praying, of seeking God’’s blessings and his help. During this stage, prayers are likely to be of a selfish and materialistic nature. Worship also manifests during this stage in the form of thanksgiving. The soul is more and more able to recognize the Father’’s will. And as the soul continues to grow, the divine spirit continues its regimen of changing purely material and selfish thoughts to those of a more spiritual and unselfish nature.
Meanwhile, the guardian angels continue to intensify their schemes by increasing the moral and spiritual stimuli in the outer world. The soul’’s choosing of good over evil is not consistent yet, as certain moral and spiritual stimuli are avoided due to a lack of moral courage. The choosing of the soul during this junction can be compared to a see-saw: up one minute and down the next. But as the process continues, the soul grows in moral courage and loyalty to the Father’’s will. It has not dedicated nor consecrated its will to doing the Father’’s will yet but is moving in that direction as choosing the values of good begin to outstrip choosing the values of evil.
Under the supervision of the guardian angels without and the operations of the divine spirit within, the soul moves towards a level of growth where it actually believes. It has now reached that stage of true faith, whereby all areas of his life is controlled. At this point the souls effects a bonafide agreement with the divine spirit. It dedicates and consecrates its will to doing the Father’’s will. It fully recognizes the divine spirit. Doing this period, the divine spirit moves to elevate the bulk of unselfish and spiritual decisions to increasingly divine levels. The work of the divine spirit is more efficient now and can become self-acting in presenting spiritual stimuli to the soul. It can increase its revelations of truth, beauty, and goodness now that the soul has grown to the point where it recognizes these spiritual revelations. The soul has been born again.
The guardian angels intensify their training regimen, presenting more and more complex moral and spiritual stimuli. The soul now cooperates fully with guardian angels. His life becomes consistent. And this consistency in his life allows them to be more effective in utilizing the social and ethical environment. And the increased choosing of moral and spiritual stimuli allows the divine spirit to increasingly infiltrate the fibers of the soul, which results an increased God consciousness. Under these internal and external stimuli, the faith of the soul reaches supreme levels as revealed by the supreme comprehension of divine values and meanings. Prayers have changed to unselfish and spiritual and has given way to thanksgiving. The partnership has reached supreme levels. The partnership is now ripe for the final stage of the human-divine partnership.
The choosing of the soul has now allowed the divine spirit to fully infiltrate the fibers of the soul, and now the divine spirit moves to fixate the divine values and values that have been elevated to supreme levels. Under the continuing guidance of the Spirit of Truth, the partnership reaches that stage where it is able to function perfectly. The soul perfectly recognizes the divine will and, under the enshroudment of the Spirit of Truth, responds perfectly to divine leadings. This partnership is fully able to represent the Father under any and all circumstances. The soul recognizes that it is the vine on the living branch. The fruits of the spirit flow freely through him. He work the partnership in perfection. He is a live branch on the vine.
"When there exists this living connection between divinity and humanity, if humanity should thoughtlessly and ignorantly pray for selfish ease and vainglorious accomplishments, there could be only one divine answer: more and increased bearing of the fruits of the spirit on the stems of the living branches. When the branch of the vine is alive, there can be only one answer to all its petitions: increased grape bearing. In fact, the branch exists only for, and can do nothing except, fruit bearing, yielding grapes. So does the true believer exist only for the purpose of bearing the fruits of the spirit: to love man as he himself has been loved by God —— that we should love one another, even as Jesus has loved us." And thus he works the partnership. Work it!
This concludes today's message on understanding the meaning of growth and maturity of the partnership with the heavenly Father. 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!
Inspirational Messages of Light
By Dr. James Perry
Working the Partnership
