CONSECRATION

DECEMBER 3, 2014

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FROM PSALMS IN THE NEW ENGLISH BIBLE:
23:1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall want nothing.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, and leads me beside the waters of peace;

3 he renews life within me, and for his name’s sake, guides me in the right path.

4 Even though I walk through a valley dark as death I fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy staff and thy crook are my comfort.

5 Thou spreadest a table for me in the sight of my enemies; thou hast richly bathed my head with oil, and my cup runs over.

6 Goodness and love unfailing, these will follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
AND FROM THE KING JAMES VERSION: I KINGS
21:17  And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

17:1 … there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

9  Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.

10 And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.

11  And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.

12  And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

13  And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.

14  For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.

15  And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.

16  And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.
MATTHEW

4:23  … Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

24  And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.

5:1  And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:

2  And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

6:19  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

20  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

13:45  the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:

46  Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

12:22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

21  … where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
AND AGAIN FROM THE NEW ENGLISH BIBLE: JOHN
8:31 Turning to the Jews who had believed on him, Jesus said, ‘If you dwell within the revelation I have brought, you are indeed my disciples;

32 you shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

4:23 the time approaches, indeed it is already here, when those who are real worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth.  Such are the worshippers whom the Father wants.

24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.
THE KING JAMES VERSION: GALATIANS
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
JAMES
5:14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

15  And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up;

I CORINTHIANS
16:13 Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.
II TIMOTHY
2:1 … my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

7  Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.

15  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.

3:2  This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

14  But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;

15  And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

16    All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

17  That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
II CORINTHIANS

5:8 ..if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

17  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

18  And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
ROMANS
12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

2  … be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
II PETER
1:2  Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,

4  Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

5  And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;

6  And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;

7  And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

8  For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
SCIENCE & HEALTH WITH KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES

BY MARY BAKER EDDY
SH 592:25

OIL. Consecration; charity; gentleness; prayer; heavenly inspiration.
SH 3:12

The Divine Being must be reflected by man, — else man is not the image and likeness of the patient, tender, and true, the One “altogether lovely;” but to understand God is the work of eternity, and demands absolute consecration of thought, energy, and desire.
SH 28:9

While respecting all that is good in the Church or out of it, one’s consecration to Christ is more on the ground of demonstration than of profession. In conscience, we cannot hold to beliefs outgrown; and by understanding more of the divine Principle of the deathless Christ, we are enabled to heal the sick and to triumph over sin.
SH 261:32-5

Good demands of man every hour, in which to work out the problem of being. Consecration to good does not lessen man’s dependence on God, but heightens it. Neither does consecration diminish man’s obligations to God, but shows the paramount necessity of meeting them.
SH 388:1-4

The Christian martyrs were prophets of Christian Science. Through the uplifting and consecrating power of divine Truth, they obtained a victory over the corporeal senses, a victory which Science alone can explain.
SH 325:20

Paul had a clear sense of the demands of Truth upon mortals physically and spiritually, when he said: “Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” But he, who is begotten of the beliefs of the flesh and serves them, can never reach in this world the divine heights of our Lord. The time cometh when the spiritual origin of man, the divine Science which ushered Jesus into human presence, will be understood and demonstrated.
SH 421:15-18

Insist vehemently on the great fact which covers the whole ground, that God, Spirit, is all, and that there is none beside Him.
SH 339:7-10

Since God is All, there is no room for His unlikeness. God, Spirit, alone created all, and called it good. Therefore evil, being contrary to good, is unreal, and cannot be the product of God.
SH 331:13

The Scriptures also declare that God is Spirit. Therefore in Spirit all is harmony, and there can be no discord; all is Life, and there is no death. Everything in God’s universe expresses Him.
SH 455:20

God selects for the highest service one who has grown into such a fitness for it as renders any abuse of the mission an impossibility. The All-wise does not bestow His highest trusts upon the unworthy. When He commissions a messenger, it is one who is spiritually near Himself. No person can misuse this mental power, if he is taught of God to discern it.
SH 40:25

Our heavenly Father, divine Love, demands that all men should follow the example of our Master and his apostles and not merely worship his personality. It is sad that the phrase divine service has come so generally to mean public worship instead of daily deeds.
SH 79:29-3

Mind-science teaches that mortals need “not be weary in well doing.” It dissipates fatigue in doing good. Giving does not impoverish us in the service of our Maker, neither does withholding enrich us. We have strength in proportion to our apprehension of the truth, and our strength is not lessened by giving utterance to truth.
SH 428:22

The great spiritual fact must be brought out that man is, not shall be, perfect and immortal. We must hold forever the consciousness of existence, and sooner or later, through Christ and Christian Science, we must master sin and death. The evidence of man’s immortality will become more apparent, as material beliefs are given up and the immortal facts of being are admitted.

Publications Quotation

“Consecration”

By Alfred Marshall Vaughn

Christian Science Sentinel

September 1, 1934
“True consecration is devoting one’s self to the service of God. When we start the day with the earnest desire that we may reflect divine Love in all our thinking, we have taken the first step toward true consecration, and toward making the day a profitable and joyous one. And throughout the day we need to listen earnestly, that we may hear and do God’s bidding. The desire that our lives may be truly consecrated to God is beautifully expressed in the Psalmist’s prayer, ‘Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.’
“There is a great need for consecration. It is needed in the work of the practitioner, the teacher, the lecturer, the Reader, and in all the activities in the Christian Science movement. It is needed in our contact with the world. Mrs. Eddy writes (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 110), ‘Beloved children, the world has need of you,—and more as children than as men and women: it needs your innocence, unselfishness, faithful affection, uncontaminated lives.’ Consecration to God on our part will encourage those with whom we come in contact in a business way, and in other ways, to seek for themselves the truths of Christian Science.
“Whatever our work, if we humbly and without reservation desire that our every thought may be consecrated to the service of God, the work will be well done, and many opportunities for service will be unfolded which formerly we did not see.”