It was one of those days we probably all experience at some point. Too many demands being made, everything needing attention at once. Chaos was at the door.
Then I recalled a phrase I had seen earlier when in an office downtown, waiting for the owner of the business to arrive. Looking at his plaques on the wall, this one caught my eye: "Be still, and know that I am God." It's from the Old Testament (Psalms 46:10), and when my friend came in, I pointed to it and said, "Definitely a good idea." He nodded and just smiled, being a quite religious man. We were on the same page we realized.
As I thought about this Biblical admonition, I called a time-out and just sat on the sofa, turning thoughts to God's everpresence. Also, the truths I've learned through years of studying and practicing Christian Science were a great help, primarily the thought that all is actually under the control of God, divine Mind. It wasn't long at all before I felt a calming influence come over me.
Another statement from the Bible came to mind and was a great help: "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee." Also from the Old Testament, Isaiah 26:3 to be exact. "Stayed" on Him -- not on the surrounding distractions.
Turning to God in the upheaval around me, as our blessed Master habitually did, brought me a measure of that peace Christ Jesus promises us in these words: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27) And the rest of the day went smoothly with everything getting accomplished without the stress and strain I was feeling earlier.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
The Teachings of Jesus
This starts off my 4th year of blogging for Christ Jesus and Christian Science, and words can't do justice to the privilege I feel in being able to do this work. And why so? Because of the blessings my religion has brought into my life and into the lives of people I know. To be involved in extending and perpetuating the teachings of Christ Jesus as given through the revelation of Christian Science by Mary Baker Eddy...what a joy.
Was saying just the other day to a friend in Wisconsin, "What would we do without Christian Science in our lives!" And she replied, "Fortunately, we don't have to think about that."
For the feedback I've gotten from around the world -- not all favorable to be expected, some comments rather hostile toward what Mary Baker Eddy discovered and founded (not to mention against her!), I thank you. It is heartwarming to learn that individuals have been led to investigate the writings of this God-inspired woman, and have begun studying Christian Science, with solid healing results. And those who are already faithful students of this religion have found encouragement through this website. This is enough to keep me blogging.
So, onward and upward in this endeavor -- all to the glory of God.
Was saying just the other day to a friend in Wisconsin, "What would we do without Christian Science in our lives!" And she replied, "Fortunately, we don't have to think about that."
For the feedback I've gotten from around the world -- not all favorable to be expected, some comments rather hostile toward what Mary Baker Eddy discovered and founded (not to mention against her!), I thank you. It is heartwarming to learn that individuals have been led to investigate the writings of this God-inspired woman, and have begun studying Christian Science, with solid healing results. And those who are already faithful students of this religion have found encouragement through this website. This is enough to keep me blogging.
So, onward and upward in this endeavor -- all to the glory of God.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
God Has Need of You
(Written for someone
to Christ brand new)
If nothing else gets
accomplished this day,
this potentially life-changing
thing I'm going to say.
While you may never have
been told such a thing,
the title of this poem
should make your heart sing.
"Oh, that couldn't apply to me.
It sounds too good to be true."
Oh no it isn't, not at all.
God specifically needs you.
There is so much good
that needs to be done.
And many worthy deeds
can be by you -- just one.
Since I don't know
where this poem will go,
let me say again, my friend...
God not only loves you so,
He has need of YOU.
to Christ brand new)
If nothing else gets
accomplished this day,
this potentially life-changing
thing I'm going to say.
While you may never have
been told such a thing,
the title of this poem
should make your heart sing.
"Oh, that couldn't apply to me.
It sounds too good to be true."
Oh no it isn't, not at all.
God specifically needs you.
There is so much good
that needs to be done.
And many worthy deeds
can be by you -- just one.
Since I don't know
where this poem will go,
let me say again, my friend...
God not only loves you so,
He has need of YOU.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Staying healthy
Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, points out something we can do to maintain sound health. She writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures on page 392: "Stand porter at the door of thought. Admitting only such conclusions as you wish realized in bodily results, you will control yourself harmoniously. When the conditon is present which you say induces disease, whether it be air, exercise, heredity, contagion, or accident, then perform your office as porter and shut out these unhealthy thoughts and fears. Exclude from mortal mind the offending errors; then the body cannot suffer from them."
No, we certainly do not need to feel helpless when symptoms of disease appear, just doing nothing while they develop into bodily discomfort or incapacity. Christian Science, in accord with the Bible, teaches that God is the only genuine cause, the sole creator of the universe, including man, and that the true nature of creation is spiritual, wholly good, expressing God's nature. From the standpoint of absolute truth, all cause and effect are spiritual, and all is the perfect handiwork of God, divine Spirit.
Christ Jesus emphasized the effect of what we entertain in thought. He said: "Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man...Those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart." (Matthew 15:11)
When one learns that thought affects every aspect of his life, he sees the necessity of replacing fearful, sickly thoughts with spiritual truths that uplift, transform and keep one whole. He sees the importance of conforming to the Christly standard Jesus established for all mankind. No matter what others may be falsely believing about sickness and disease, we don't have to abjectly surrender our peace and harmony, but may instead exercise our God-given power over suffering.
Because you and I are actually the reflection of infinite, harmonious Spirit, and we include only those qualities Spirit imparts--peace, joy, health, dominion--the suffering and fear that may seem so real have no genuine power over us. They are misconceptions, false beliefs, not actual, God-created conditions. And being misconceptions, they can be corrected with the truth of man's inseparable relationship to God, of his uninterrupted well-being as God's reflection. This truth heals.
Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health, "Instruct the sick that they are not helpless victims, for if they will only accept Truth, they can resist disease and ward it off, as positively as they can the temptation to sin." She continues further along: "The fact that Truth overcomes both disease and sin reassures depressed hope. It imparts a healthy stimulus to the body, and regulates the system. It increases or diminishes the action, as the case may require, better than any drug, alterative, or tonic." (page 420)
Thousands of people today are experiencing regeneration and the healing power of Truth, of Almighty God. They are successfully warding off pain and disability--proving them to be untrue. Empowered with the Christly understanding of Truth, you, too, can keep yourself healthy.
No, we certainly do not need to feel helpless when symptoms of disease appear, just doing nothing while they develop into bodily discomfort or incapacity. Christian Science, in accord with the Bible, teaches that God is the only genuine cause, the sole creator of the universe, including man, and that the true nature of creation is spiritual, wholly good, expressing God's nature. From the standpoint of absolute truth, all cause and effect are spiritual, and all is the perfect handiwork of God, divine Spirit.
Christ Jesus emphasized the effect of what we entertain in thought. He said: "Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man...Those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart." (Matthew 15:11)
When one learns that thought affects every aspect of his life, he sees the necessity of replacing fearful, sickly thoughts with spiritual truths that uplift, transform and keep one whole. He sees the importance of conforming to the Christly standard Jesus established for all mankind. No matter what others may be falsely believing about sickness and disease, we don't have to abjectly surrender our peace and harmony, but may instead exercise our God-given power over suffering.
Because you and I are actually the reflection of infinite, harmonious Spirit, and we include only those qualities Spirit imparts--peace, joy, health, dominion--the suffering and fear that may seem so real have no genuine power over us. They are misconceptions, false beliefs, not actual, God-created conditions. And being misconceptions, they can be corrected with the truth of man's inseparable relationship to God, of his uninterrupted well-being as God's reflection. This truth heals.
Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health, "Instruct the sick that they are not helpless victims, for if they will only accept Truth, they can resist disease and ward it off, as positively as they can the temptation to sin." She continues further along: "The fact that Truth overcomes both disease and sin reassures depressed hope. It imparts a healthy stimulus to the body, and regulates the system. It increases or diminishes the action, as the case may require, better than any drug, alterative, or tonic." (page 420)
Thousands of people today are experiencing regeneration and the healing power of Truth, of Almighty God. They are successfully warding off pain and disability--proving them to be untrue. Empowered with the Christly understanding of Truth, you, too, can keep yourself healthy.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
A practical appreciation of Christ Jesus
(These thoughts this morning are being shared primarily for you readers of this blog who are not yet acquainted with the teachings of Christian Science. Hope it brings you enlightenment. And divine healing, too.)
Many people gain inspiration and comfort from thinking about the man Jesus, for whom we could never, ever feel enough reverence and love. But perhaps even more important, we need to gain a practical understanding of the Christ-power he expressed.
The purpose of our Master's unequaled example was not merely to inspire mankind but to show us how to be free from every form of bondage, physical suffering included. He promised, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also." (John 14:12)
Underlying Jesus' words and deeds was eternal divine law, which we all can apply. Through prayer that springs from an understanding of God as the perfect ,totally good Principle of the universe, and of man's actual nature as His image, we can experience a restoration of harmony. And it makes no difference whether our problem is physical, financial, emotional, or moral.
Christian Science teaches the eternal Biblical truth of man's indestructible relationship to God. And, as indicated above, many have found freedom from sickness and other ills through the study and application of this truth. Perceiving something of man's actual nature as spiritual and whole, reflecting the perfection of Spirit, they have proved by healing that no one need be subject to such debilitating conditions as sin, disease, lack.
On the basis of man's eternal likeness to God, Jesus healed all types of troubles. His works vividly illustrated the fact that man, as God created him, has never fallen from his original, spiritual state of being, that nothing can truly interfere with his harmony and well-being as the reflection of divine Love. The Master healed pain, impairment--apparently hopeless difficulties of every sort-- through the Christly understanding of divine law.
Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, points out, "The Christlike understanding of scientific being and divine healing includes a perfect Principle and idea-- perfect God and perfect man--as the basis of thought and demonstration." Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, page 259.
More times than I could tell you about in this posting, not mere admiration or reverence for Christ Jesus' teachings, but a correct understanding and application of the scientific, spiritual rules of these teachings, is what has established health and normality in my life. And it can do the same for you.
In the book I quoted from above of Mrs. Eddy's, is this statement: "To be 'present with the Lord' is to have, not mere emotional ecstasy or faith, but the actual demonstration and understanding of Life as revealed in Christian Science." (Ibid., page 14)
Many people gain inspiration and comfort from thinking about the man Jesus, for whom we could never, ever feel enough reverence and love. But perhaps even more important, we need to gain a practical understanding of the Christ-power he expressed.
The purpose of our Master's unequaled example was not merely to inspire mankind but to show us how to be free from every form of bondage, physical suffering included. He promised, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also." (John 14:12)
Underlying Jesus' words and deeds was eternal divine law, which we all can apply. Through prayer that springs from an understanding of God as the perfect ,totally good Principle of the universe, and of man's actual nature as His image, we can experience a restoration of harmony. And it makes no difference whether our problem is physical, financial, emotional, or moral.
Christian Science teaches the eternal Biblical truth of man's indestructible relationship to God. And, as indicated above, many have found freedom from sickness and other ills through the study and application of this truth. Perceiving something of man's actual nature as spiritual and whole, reflecting the perfection of Spirit, they have proved by healing that no one need be subject to such debilitating conditions as sin, disease, lack.
On the basis of man's eternal likeness to God, Jesus healed all types of troubles. His works vividly illustrated the fact that man, as God created him, has never fallen from his original, spiritual state of being, that nothing can truly interfere with his harmony and well-being as the reflection of divine Love. The Master healed pain, impairment--apparently hopeless difficulties of every sort-- through the Christly understanding of divine law.
Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, points out, "The Christlike understanding of scientific being and divine healing includes a perfect Principle and idea-- perfect God and perfect man--as the basis of thought and demonstration." Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, page 259.
More times than I could tell you about in this posting, not mere admiration or reverence for Christ Jesus' teachings, but a correct understanding and application of the scientific, spiritual rules of these teachings, is what has established health and normality in my life. And it can do the same for you.
In the book I quoted from above of Mrs. Eddy's, is this statement: "To be 'present with the Lord' is to have, not mere emotional ecstasy or faith, but the actual demonstration and understanding of Life as revealed in Christian Science." (Ibid., page 14)
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