JULY 20, 2016
Hymns 237, 455, 332
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THE BIBLE
PSALMS
53:2 God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.
5 There were they in great fear, where no fear was:
46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
84:11… no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
34:10 …they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.
DEUTERONOMY
4:29 … if…thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;
31 he will not forsake thee, …
JEREMIAH
29:11 … I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
ISAIAH
55:6 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
EZEKIEL
34:11 … thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.
12 As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
15 I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God.
16 I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick:
27 … and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the Lord, …
ACTS
17:22 … Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
25 Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being;
FROM THE NEW ENGLISH BIBLE – HEBREWS
11:1 And what is faith? Faith gives assurance to our hopes, and makes us certain of realities we do not see.
2 By faith we perceive that the universe was fashioned by the word of God, so that the visible came forth from the invisible.
6 and without faith it is impossible to please him; for anyone who comes to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who search for him.
AND AGAIN FROM THE KING JAMES VERSION – II CORINTHIANS
4:8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
18 … we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
MATTHEW
6:25 Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.
6:33 …seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;
7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
7:8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
6:8 … for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
PHILIPPIANS
4:19 …My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ 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.
AMOS
5:6 Seek the Lord, and ye shall live;
SCIENCE & HEALTH WITH KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES
BY MARY BAKER EDDY:
To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, to-day is big with blessings.
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 322:32
Mortals may seek the understanding of Christian Science, but they will not be able to glean from Christian Science the facts of being without striving for them. This strife consists in the endeavor to forsake error of every kind and to possess no other consciousness but good.
SH 13:6-12, 15-16 God
If we are not secretly yearning and openly striving for the accomplishment of all we ask, our prayers are “vain repetitions,” such as the heathen use. If our petitions are sincere, we labor for what we ask; and our Father, who seeth in secret, will reward us openly.
… God knows our need before we tell Him or our fellow-beings about it.
In Divine Science, where prayers are mental, all may avail themselves of God as “a very present help in trouble.”
SH 10:12
Christian Science reveals a necessity for overcoming the world, the flesh, and evil, and thus destroying all error. Seeking is not sufficient. It is striving that enables us to enter.
SH 323:3
This strife consists in the endeavor to forsake error of every kind and to possess no other consciousness but good.
As mortals gain more correct views of God and man, multitudinous objects of creation, which before were invisible, will become visible. When we realize that Life is Spirit, never in nor of matter, this understanding will expand into self-completeness, finding all in God, good, and needing no other consciousness.
SH 451:8-16
Students of Christian Science, who start with its letter and think to succeed without the spirit, will either make shipwreck of their faith or be turned sadly
awry. They must not only seek, but strive, to enter the narrow path of Life, for “wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.” Man walks in the direction towards which he looks, and where his treasure is, there will his heart be also.
SH 20:27
St. Paul wrote, “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us;” that is, let us put aside material self and sense, and seek the divine Principle and Science of all healing.
SH 253:32-7
The divine demand, “Be ye therefore perfect,” is scientific, and the human footsteps leading to perfection are indispensable. Individuals are consistent who, watching and praying, can “run, and not be weary; . . . walk, and not faint,” who gain good rapidly and hold their position, or attain slowly and yield not to discouragement. God requires perfection, but not until the battle between Spirit and flesh is fought and the victory won.
Trials are proofs of God’s care.
SH 66:6-7, 14
Trials teach mortals not to lean on a material staff,– a broken reed, which pierces the heart.
Each successive stage of experience unfolds new views of divine goodness and love.
Every trial of our faith in god makes us stronger. The more difficult seems the material condition to be overcome by spirit, the stronger should be our faith and the purer our love. The apostle John says: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear. . . . He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”
SH 254:10-12
When we wait patiently on God and seek Truth righteously, He directs our path.
When man is governed by God, the ever-present mind who understands all things, man knows that with God all things are possible.
Divine love always has met and always will meet every human need. It is not well to imagine that Jesus demonstrated the divine power to heal only for a select number or for a limited period of time, since to all mankind and in every hour, divine love supplies all good.
Practice not profession, understanding not belief, gain the ear and right hand of omnipotence and they assuredly call down infinite blessings.
“All things work together for good to them that love God,” is the dictum of scripture.
SH xii:23
In the spirit of Christ’s charity, — as one who “hopeth all things, endureth all things,” and is joyful to bear consolation to the sorrowing and healing to the sick, — she commits these pages to honest seekers for Truth.
Mary Baker Eddy
PUBLICATIONS QUOTATIONS
“Seek Ye First The Kingdom”
By Daisy L. Stwalley
The Christian Science Sentinel
June 21, 1913
Would you run and not be weary,
Would you walk and never faint,
Would you gain eternal freedom?
Never listen to complaint.
Would you see your skies grow brighter
Unto everlasting day?
Seek ye first of all the kingdom;
Christ will lead you all the way.
Would you drink the living water,
Would you eat the bread of Life,
Would you heal the broken-hearted,
Banish every sense of strife?
Claim for yours each precious promise
Writ by patriarch of old;
Seek ye first of all the kingdom;
It will wondrous wealth unfold.
Turn aside from golden glitter,
Tread the path that Jesus trod;
Though at times your footsteps falter,
You are safe in trusting God.
Find the love that is eternal,
Learn the truth that is the light;
Seek ye first of all the kingdom;
Know that God is always right.
“First and Always”
By William B. Harrison
The Christian Science Sentinel
December 22, 1923
Few passages of Scripture are more often quoted than this: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Correctly interpreted, the passage is rich with meaning; but its true import may be lost, if the word “first” is overemphasized.
Luke omitted it entirely in reporting the same statement of the Master. His account of Jesus’ words was as follows: “But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.” The omission is not without significance, and is easily understood in the light of Christian Science, which reveals that there is but one kingdom, the kingdom of God.
If we believe that our proper attitude is to seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness before we seek other things, and that these other things—material things—will then come to us as a natural and legitimate reward for having given God the preference, we are in error.
Matter and its claims to reality and substance are a direct contradiction of the allness of God and His kingdom. Not a single quality of matter exists in the realm of God; and there is no other realm or region; therefore there is no place for matter to exist.
So, when Jesus told his hearers to seek the kingdom of God, he was trying to lift their thoughts into the realm of divine Truth, where none of the claims of materiality have presence or power. Once let consciousness comprehend, even in a degree, the omnipresence, omnipotence, and omniscience of infinite good, and every need would be met; because we should then understand that man lives in Love’s perfect atmosphere.