Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Look to God for Health

The other day I happened to read a column in a local newspaper and was interested in the account of a woman involving her health.  Or lack of it.  She wrote that she eats all the right food, exercises, drinks in moderation, etc. yet feels ill all the time.  Her doctor isn't able to diagnose just what the trouble is.

Thinking about her perplexity and distress, couldn't help being grateful for what Christian Science teaches about health.  How it encourages one to look to God for well-being.  And shows one how to do this through its teachings.

Through the study of Christian Science, we are helped to see what the healing truth, the truth found in the Bible's pages.  There we learn that God is omnipotent and entirely good and that man is the image and likeness of God. As the likeness of his creator, man forever expresses the divine nature. And because God is Spirit, man is spiritual. To be sure, we appear to be merely flesh and bones and subject to bodily suffering. But physicality isn't the actual or ultimate substance of our being. Life in the flesh is a misconception of man, whose real identity as the image of God is incorporeal, untouched by debilitating conditions.

The growing understanding of man's spiritual nature has a purifying effect on the body. It awakens us to the ever presence of Christ, Truth -- and the body responds to this uplifting influence.  Health is restored.

Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures", (p. 166):  "To ignore God as of little use in sickness is a mistake.  Instead of thrusting Him aside in times of bodily trouble, and waiting for the hour of strength in which to acknowledge Him, we should learn that He can do a things for us in sickness as in health."

Divine healing in Christian Science is a wonderful thing to experience. You and I have a God-given right not only to enjoy sound health but to recover it through spiritual means when it is threatened. Christ Jesus has furnished us with a precedent, indicating that as we follow his example we can learn what God is and how to avail ourselves of His power. As he said "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also."  (John 14:12)

The Bible is full of assurances of God's' healing help.  These are not empty promise;s.  They come to life for us in clear-cut healing when we are equipped with practical knowledge of God's eternal law of harmony and of our relationship to Him.  Empowered with the Christly understanding that a study of Christian Science brings, we can turn to God for every aspect of our well-being, including health, proving to our own satisfaction and joy, "The Lord will take away from thee all sickness." (Debut. 7:15)

Sunday, September 8, 2019

Just thinking, this September morning

In pondering how many people throughout the world are desperate for what only Christ can give, these two statements come to thought:

First, Jesus' command in Mark 16:15:  "Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature."

And from "Pulpit and Press", page 14 by Mary Baker Eddy:

"Millions of unprejudiced minds -- simple seekers for Truth, weary wanderers, athirst in the desert -- are waiting and watching for rest and drink.  Give them a cup of cold water in Christ's name, and never fear the consequences,"

In order to carry out this holy endeavor, it is clear to me that we need God's help.  And He does open the way for us to obey Jesus' words, and give a "cup of cold water in Christ's name". Praying to be useful to Him and our fellow beings in this way is prayer that our heavenly Father answers, I have found. In often unimagined ways -- blessing mankind and us immeasurably.


Thursday, September 5, 2019

Afflictions Sanctified

After God's chastening is over,

What then for us is left?

Many things, worth more than gold.

And crowning them all must be

The dawning, "He did what He did

Out of love for me."

Removing those things

That stand between us and Him

Can leave us feeling punished, bereft;

But when process divine has run its course

Is perfected, and at last is through,

What thoughts of praise and awe there are.

And we may even wonder,

Is this the way angels feel about You?




Sunday, September 1, 2019

Don't Feel Overwhelmed

In telling his disciples about conditions that would come to pass, Christ Jesus spoke of "men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth" (Luke 21:26).

Many people these days, observing present world conditionals, may be ready to conclude that these days must surely be upon us. They feel afraid, overwhelmed. Many lose heart

This, however, is the thing one should not do when faced with disheartening circumstances.  When Jesus warned men of eventual upheaval, he also offered a way of escape.  "When these things begin to come to pass," he counseled, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh" *Luke 21:28).

Our redemption or salvation from fear and deep discouragement can come as soon as we progress in our understanding of God' government of man and His universe.  To those in search of renewed hope and courage Christian Science offers this view of reality: man and the universe spiritually created. It shows one how to indeed look up, through enlightened prayer, to find God's ever-present, redeeming help  Through the study and application of Christian Science, countless individuals the word over have found that there is no problem too overwhelming for God to solve.

Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 390):  "It is our ignorance of God, the divine Principle, which produces apparent discord, and the right understanding of Him restores harmony."  Problems seem hopeless only if we think of man as separated from God, left to fend for himself in a material, somewhat mysterious universe controlled by amoral forces. But Christian Science teaches that man is spiritual, perfect, the expression of God, inseparable from God, loved by God, protected by God, secure in God.  And the same spiritual laws that empowered Jesus to heal and regenerate men are available to all mankind.

The basis of Jesus' unfailing ability to subdue difficulties of every description was his practical understanding of divine law, his consciousness of man's spiritual relationship to God.  God, good governs all things harmoniously, and the divine government is reflected in our daily lives.  When we realize that the divine Mind is continuously maintaining all in harmony and perfection, we can begin to see that there is no hopeless condition, no insoluble problem.

Mrs. Eddy writes in "Science and Health" (p. 393):  "Be firm in your understanding that the divine Mind governs and that in Science man reflects God's government." A knowledge of this keeps hope and enthusiasm intact, lifted above distressing material conditions.  There is never any need to feel overwhelmed, for God, good, is the only reality.