Defend Yourself Daily

AUGUST 6, 2014

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THE BIBLE

PSALMS

1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
86:10 Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth:
51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
64:8 Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk;
10 Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.

PROVERBS

2:1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
4 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.
3:13 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.
18 She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her:
4:7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

ISAIAH

26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

MATTHEW

10:1 And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.
5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
16 ¶Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
17 For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.
26 Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light:

LUKE

10:1 After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.
2 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.
17 ¶And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.
18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
23 ¶And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

II TIMOTHY

2:16 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
22 … follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
7 … the Lord give thee understanding in all things.

ROMANS

15:4 … whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

EPHESIANS

4:7 … unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
20 But ye have not so learned Christ;
21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:

COLOSSIANS

3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
3 … your life is hid with Christ in God.

I PETER

5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of god, that he may exalt you in due time:
7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

PHILIPPIANS

4:19 …My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

MATTHEW

6:8 … for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

JAMES

5:16 The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

 

SCIENCE AND HEALTH WITH KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES
BY MARY BAKER EDDY

SH 387:27
The history of Christianity furnishes sublime proofs of the supporting influence and protecting power bestowed on man by his heavenly Father, omnipotent Mind, who gives man faith and understanding whereby to defend himself, not only from temptation, but from bodily suffering.

S&H 1:1
The prayer that reforms the sinner and heals the sick is an absolute faith that all things are possible to God, — a spiritual understanding of Him, an unselfed love. Prayer, watching, and working, combined with self-immolation, are God’s gracious means for accomplishing whatever has been successfully done for the Christianization and health of mankind.

SH 4:12-13
The habitual struggle to be always good is unceasing prayer.

SH 496:6 in
…in Christian Science the first duty is to obey God, to have one Mind, and to love another as yourself.

SH 180:25-27
When man is governed by God, the ever-present mind who understands all things, man knows that with God all things are possible.

SH 558:20-21
Take divine Science. Read this book from beginning to end. Study it, ponder it.

S&H 234:9-12, 17-21, 25-27, 31-32
We should become more familiar with good than with evil, and guard against false beliefs as watchfully as we bar our doors against the approach of thieves and murderers.
Sin and disease must be thought before they can be manifested. You must control evil thoughts in the first instance, or they will control you in the second.
Evil thoughts and aims reach no farther and do no more harm than one’s belief permits.

SH 13:20-29
If we pray to God as a corporeal person, this will prevent us from relinquishing the human doubts and fears which attend such a belief, and so we cannot grasp the wonders wrought by infinite, incorporeal Love, to whom all things are possible. Because of human ignorance of the divine Principle, Love, the Father of all is represented as a corporeal creator; hence men recognize themselves as merely physical, and are ignorant of man as God’s image or reflection and of man’s eternal incorporeal existence.

SH 12:31
In Divine Science, where prayers are mental, all may avail themselves of God as “a very present help in trouble.”

SH 7:23
God is not influenced by man. The “divine ear” is not an auditory nerve. It is the all-hearing and all-knowing mind, to whom each need of man is always known and by whom it will be supplied.

SH 37:16-17, 22-27?
When will Jesus’ professed followers learn to emulate him in all his ways and to imitate his mighty works?
It is possible, — yea, it is the duty and privilege of every child, man, and woman, — to follow in some degree the example of the Master by the demonstration of Truth and Life, of health and holiness.

SH 451:19-26
Every Christian Scientist, every conscientious teacher of the Science of Mind-healing, knows that human will is not Christian Science, and he must recognize this in order to defend himself from the influence of human will.

SH 392:24-
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 condition 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.

SH 385:17-18
Whatever it is your duty to do, you can do without harm to yourself.

S&H 4:17-22
Simply asking that we may love God will never make us love Him; but the longing to be better and holier, expressed in daily watchfulness and in striving to assimilate more of the divine character, will mould and fashion us anew, until we awake in His likeness.

SH 496:9??
Hold perpetually this thought, — that it is the spiritual idea, the Holy Ghost and Christ, which enables you to demonstrate, with scientific certainty, the rule of healing, based upon its divine Principle, Love, underlying, overlying, and encompassing all true being.

SH 497:24
And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to do unto others as we would have them do unto us; and to be merciful, just, and pure.
S&H vii:1-2
To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, to-day is big with blessings.

SH 16:7-11
Our master taught his disciples one brief prayer, which we name after him the Lord’s Prayer. Our Master said, “After this manner therefore pray ye,” and then he gave that prayer which covers all human needs.

The congregation was then invited to devote a few moments to silent prayer, and then repeat that prayer aloud —the Lord’s Prayer:

Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil;
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.
Publications Quotations
“Wiser Than Serpents”
By John M. Tutt
The Christian Science Journal, March 1925

“Animal magnetism is a name for evil in its false claim to be and to do something; it is the belief of evil in action. Wherever a falsity claims to be exerting itself to be and to do, there is animal magnetism. On page 594 of the Christian Science textbook, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” Mrs. Eddy gives “animal magnetism” as a definition of “serpent.”

In the allegory of the garden of Eden, the serpent is represented as talking to Eve. Mrs. Eddy reminds us that there is no such thing in animal life as a talking snake.

“The serpent talked to Eve in terms of her own thinking and speech. Indeed, any evil belief comes to us in the guise of our own thought. It can come in no other way, since we see, feel, hear, touch, and taste only what we believe. Thus all these evil things depend for their seeming reality upon our acceptance of them at the behest of mortal mind.

“The wisdom of a serpent is to hide itself;” and because the serpents of error come to us in the guise of thought, and can come in no other way, therefore the serpent hides itself in our own thinking. We must seek for it there. The animal magnetism outside our own consciousness can never harm us.

“In displaying its so-called wisdom, the serpent hides itself in the most effective place for hiding, namely, a hole. The superficial student hesitates or stops short at the hole of the serpent. He loves to think of God as Love, but he dislikes to stir up a nest of serpents. He will not handle animal magnetism. He either does not see the error or, seeing it, does not want to or will not deny it, reverse it, and reject it.

“The true Scientist boldly turns the serpent out of its hole. He does this with the wisdom of God and not with his own human mentality, however. Thus he emulates our Leader’s counsel and example to be “wiser than serpents.” To be “wiser than serpents” is to employ the wisdom of God, the one divine Mind, in bringing the serpent out of its hiding place or hole, handling it, and taking away its sting. Thus handled, that is, reversed with Truth, the lie or serpent becomes a staff on which to lean.”

And from the Manual of the Mother Church
By Mary Baker Eddy

“Daily Prayer. Section 4. It shall be the duty of every member of this Church to pray each day: “Thy kingdom come;” let the reign of divine Truth, Life, and Love be established in me, and rule out of me all sin; and may Thy Word enrich the affections of all mankind, and govern them!

“Alertness to Duty. Section 6. It shall be the duty of every member of this Church to defend himself daily against aggressive mental suggestion, and not be made to forget nor to neglect his duty to God, to his Leader, and to mankind. By his works he shall be judged, — and justified or condemned.

“A Rule for Motives and Acts. Section 1. Neither animosity nor mere personal attachment should impel the motives or acts of the members of The Mother Church. In Science, divine Love alone governs man; and a Christian Scientist
reflects the sweet amenities of Love, in rebuking sin, in true brotherliness, charitableness, and forgiveness. The members of this Church should daily watch and pray to be delivered from all evil, from prophesying, judging, condemning, counseling, influencing or being influenced erroneously.”