SEPTEMBER 14, 2016
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THE BIBLE
PSALMS
2 The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.
73:28 … it is good for me to draw near to God:
RUTH
1.1 … it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.
2 And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion,….
3 And Elimelech Naomi’s husband died; and she was left, and her two sons.
4 And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years.
5 And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.
7 Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah.
8 And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother’s house: the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me.
16 And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:
19 ¶So they two went until they came to Bethlehem.
2:1 And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband’s, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz.
2 And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.
5 Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this?
6 And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab:
8 Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens:
9 … have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn.
11 It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore.
12 The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.
4:13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bare a son.
16 And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it.
17 And the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
II SAMUEL
22:1 And David spake unto the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, …
2 And he said, The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;
3 The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour;
5 When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid;
7 In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears.
31 As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.
32 For who is God, save the Lord? and who is a rock, save our God?
FROM THE NEW ENGLISH BIBLE – JOHN
4:24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.
AND AGAIN FROM THE KING JAMES VERSION — ROMANS
8:9 … ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
6 … to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
I CORINTHIANS
2:9 … as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
II TIMOTHY
1:7 … God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
I PETER
4:6 … live according to God in the spirit.
14 … happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you:
PSALMS
91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
9 Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
PROVERBS
29:25 … whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.
SCIENCE & HEALTH WITH KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES
BY MARY BAKER EDDY
SH 331:11 (only)
The Scriptures imply that God is All-in-all.
SH 336:23
Allness is the measure of the infinite, and nothing less can express God.
SH 331:13-16
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.
SH 361:16-18
As a drop of water is one with the ocean, a ray of light one with the sun, even so God and man, Father and son, are one in being.
SH 470:23-28
Man is the expression of God’s being. If there ever was a moment when man did not express the divine perfection, then there was a moment when man did not express God, and consequently a time when Deity was unexpressed— that is, without entity.
SH 202:3
The scientific unity which exists between God and man must be wrought out in life-practice, and God’s will must be universally done.
SH 330:14-15
Neither God nor the perfect man can be discerned by the material senses.
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 326:8
All nature teaches God’s love to man, but man cannot love God supremely and set his whole affections on spiritual things, while loving the material or trusting in it more than in the spiritual.
SH 151:23-24
The divine Mind that made man maintains His own image and likeness.
SH 470:32-2 (to ,)
The relations of God and man, divine Principle and idea, are indestructible in Science; and Science knows no lapse from nor return to harmony,…
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 67:4-13 (to ourselves)
When the ocean is stirred by a storm, then the clouds lower, the wind shrieks through the tightened shrouds, and the waves lift themselves into mountains.
We ask the helmsman: “Do you know your course? Can you steer safely amid the storm?” He answers bravely, but even the dauntless seaman is not sure of his safety; nautical science is not equal to the Science of Mind. Yet, acting up to his highest understanding, firm at the post of duty, the mariner works on and awaits the issue. Thus should we deport ourselves …
SH 83:7-9
Mortals must find refuge in Truth in order to escape the error of these latter days.
SH 495:14-20
When the illusion of sickness or sin tempts you, cling steadfastly to God and His idea. Allow nothing but His likeness to abide in your thought. Let neither fear nor doubt overshadow your clear sense and calm trust, that the recognition of life harmonious — as Life eternally is — can destroy any painful sense of, or belief in, that which Life is not.
SH 261:4
Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts.
SH 487:27-30
The understanding that Life is God, Spirit, lengthens our days by strengthening our trust in the deathless reality of Life, its almightiness and immortality.
This faith relies upon an understood Principle.
SH x:22-25
The divine Principle of healing is proved in the personal experience of any sincere seeker of Truth. Its purpose is good, and its practice is safer and more potent than that of any other sanitary method.
SH 228:25-27
There is no power apart from God. Omnipotence has all-power, and to acknowledge any other power is to dishonor God.
SH 234:3
If we trust matter, we distrust Spirit.
SH 20:21 obey (to ,)
… obey the divine order and trust God, …
SH 444:10
Step by step will those who trust Him find that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
PUBLICATIONS QUOTATION
“Safe In Spirit”
Excerpts from a Conversation with Ann Stewart
Marilyn Jones
The Christian Science Journal
November 2006
Ann, let’s talk about the state of the world. People across the globe face all kinds of fears, from personal safety to the terror scares we hear and witness in the news. As a Christian Science practitioner, how do you think people can confront these fears and deal with them in a practical way?
The edgy sense of danger these conditions promote reminds me of Jeremiah’s cry, “We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!” (Jer. 8:15). Here in the United States people call 911 if they’re in trouble. But I love to think of another emergency 911 option—the 91st Psalm, the first verse—91:1. It says, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” And the second verse continues: “I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.” So, like the Psalmist, I believe that taking refuge in and trusting in God’s all-power is the most practical thing we can do. And I say Practical because I’ve seen that scientific prayer brings tangible results.
Living this life of prayer is surely a very safe place to be.
Yet people still see or even experience violence or danger in their neighborhoods, their homes, or on the news. How do we reconcile those images or experiences with being safely in the presence of God?
I don’t think you can reconcile them. The goodness that I know is present because God is present is a spiritual fact. But that spiritual fact is constantly being challenged by the physical senses. I don’t think we need to reconcile what we know to be true in divine Science with the appearance of evil that is so constantly in our faces. In fact, we can’t. Because ultimately, reasoning from the standpoint of God and God’s creation, evil of any kind is not real. If I start thinking of it as real and then try to fix it, I can’t do it. As a Christian Scientist, I’ve learned to discern the difference between what the senses are telling me is real and what I understand as the reality of God’s creation—what I’ve learned of my own and others’ identity as God’s children. When you stick with God as being the only reality, you wind up with the error—the unreality—disappearing.
But if we do as you say and deny the reality of what we see—if, for example we see something awful on the news, and we say, well, that’s not real, I know that God is over there, so those people are not actually being blown up—how can we make that concept understandable and practical?
When I say it’s not real, I’m saying that I can’t reconcile that evil with a good God. And I’m not trying to. Reality is our present spiritual identity. So when I say accidents and chance are not real, I don’t mean they aren’t happening in the human scene. I’m saying that a person’s true, eternal identity is alive and well and is going right on. I truly believe there is no death.
Well, then, just practically speaking, can we apply what we’ve been talking about to a health problem, such as a bad case of flu?
Every day we can and must defend ourselves by challenging the constant flow of negative thoughts and images presented to consciousness. The body is innocent, and according to our textbook, not only innocent, but helpless. Why helpless? Because body is never self-acting (see Science and Health, p. 162). We tend to fear our bodies instead of defending them. We think, “Oh, body, what are you going to do to me next?”
In the Science of being, the word body identifies spiritual qualities, not physical problems. Body is neither a container nor a conveyance. It’s simply a convenience. Body says that you are, not what you are. It’s a question of identity—it’s how we recognize each other. Science and Health tells us: “Take possession of your body, and govern its feeling and action” (p. 393). In other words, take possession, don’t vacate the premises every time mortal mind suggests you may have what you just saw in that commercial. Govern the body’s feeling and action. And for goodness sake, stop looking up symptoms on the Internet.
So when you say “don’t vacate it,” you mean, don’t just leave it defenseless.
Yes! It’s your own body, why would you be afraid of it? Ultimately, you’re innocent of being mortal and material. When I think of the defenders of a castle or town, they don’t run away from the threat. They stick around and defend their fortress. They pull that drawbridge up.
The body is really a symbol of your spiritual identity. So when you pray to defend yourself against any kind of threat or disease or evil, you’re defending your highest sense of identity here on this earth. And this identity is under God’s government.
I remember a time I had to defend my body. Years ago I became aware of an abnormal skin condition. Right then and there, I decided not to accept it as any part of my identity. I remember thinking something along these lines: This is my skin. It doesn’t belong to fear. It doesn’t belong to medical theory. It belongs to me. And I belong to God.
I saw my entire being as pure and wholesome and innocent. I remember standing there thinking, Why on earth would you be afraid of your own skin? It just struck me as funny. I realized later that I was following Mrs. Eddy’s instruction: “Take possession of your body, and govern its feeling and action.” I’ll never forget looking down at my arm and thinking, This is my skin. It isn’t going to attack me. You know, some people think of the body as being like an attack dog. But it’s innocent. I realized I needed to think of my body as innocent all the time. Once I clearly established in my mind the thought of my complete innocence, the condition was cleared up within a few days.
Here’s another example. A few years ago, I spent Thanksgiving week with several friends, none of them Christian Scientists, in a cabin in the Sierra. I awoke one night in the grip of some sudden and very jarring physical symptoms. It felt like my heart was coming out of my chest. It didn’t hurt, it just banged hard and fast. But no amount of prayer seemed to break through or alleviate the physical turmoil, and I began to wonder if anything could! At that point, I realized that instead of trying to quiet the body, which appeared to have an agenda all its own, I needed to understand that my body was not self-acting, and as I firmly recognized my actual spiritual identity, I knew that I couldn’t be held captive by the belief of life in matter. This human body would conform to the transformation in my thinking. This was a very conscious and deliberate change of perspective—moving from seeing myself as a vulnerable mortal to knowing I was governed solely by Spirit.
And at that moment, when I changed my thought, it was not just a mental decision, but an action—the moment I did that, I felt absolutely safe and at peace. The physical storm could roar, and it did for awhile, but I was no longer in it. And I was no longer afraid of my own body. As I lay there in the dark, it was, if I may say so, a heavenly feeling. I’ll never forget it.
I had just wanted to feel safe. And I consciously thought, you’re never going to feel safe in matter. I realized the only place I would feel safe would be to know that I’m completely spiritual. What a relief to realize that!
When I did that, it was like I abandoned ship. The heck with the material sense of body. I’m spiritual. I don’t need to do anything with that matter. I’m not afraid of the physical symptoms or of my body. I’m spiritual. That’s why I’m safe.
I thought, Why am I trying to fix a material body when I know I’m a spiritual idea? And I thought, I’ve known this virtually my entire life. I lay there thinking about all the healings I’d had, about all the healings that have been written up in the Christian Science magazines—thousands and thousands—it’s only the tip of the iceberg. There are millions of healings we’ve never read or heard about.
Obviously this healing has to be the truth of being. And I can trust this truth with my life. In fact, it is my life. Then I thought, you couldn’t be safer because you know that you are spiritual. In fact, you will never feel totally safe until you know you’re spiritual.
That turned out to be wonderful opportunity because the people in the cabin with me had seen a light on and wanted to know what was going on with me. Instead of evading it, I decided to tell them exactly what had happened—the jarring physical condition, the way I prayed, the whole enchilada. They all know I’m a Christian Scientist and were respectful and full of questions, so it turned into an opportunity to share how Christian Science heals.