june 7th, 2023

From The Bible

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; ...

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
(II Corinthians 4:8, 17)

And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom. And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; ...

... I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight. ¶ And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him. Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: ...

... ¶ And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; ...

Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children. ...

... ¶ And he lodged there that same night; ...

... ¶ And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. ...

And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids. And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost. And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept. ...

... Jacob said, ... I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me.
(Genesis 32:3, 4 (to ;), 5–7 2nd I (to :), 9, 10 (to 1st ;), 11, 13 (to 1st ;), 24–30; 33:1–4, 10 Jacob (to 1st ,), 10 3rd I)

The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
(Numbers 6:24–26)

And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, ...

That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
(II Thessalonians 1:7, 12)

... the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?
(Mark 4:35–41 1st the)

¶ And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them. ...

And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not. He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me. And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him. And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead. But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.
(Mark 9:14, 17–27)

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. ...

And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. ...

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; ...

I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. ...

At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
(John 14:1, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20)

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
(John 16:33)

 

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

The poor suffering heart needs its rightful nutriment, such as peace, patience in tribulation, and a priceless sense of the dear Father's loving-kindness.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 365:31)

Who that has felt the loss of human peace has not gained stronger desires for spiritual joy? The aspiration after heavenly good comes even before we discover what belongs to wisdom and Love. The loss of earthly hopes and pleasures brightens the ascending path of many a heart. The pains of sense quickly inform us that the pleasures of sense are mortal and that joy is spiritual.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 265:23)

Now is the time for so-called material pains and material pleasures to pass away, for both are unreal, because impossible in Science. To break this earthly spell, mortals must get the true idea and divine Principle of all that really exists and governs the universe harmoniously. This thought is apprehended slowly, and the interval before its attainment is attended with doubts and defeats as well as triumphs.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 39:22)

There is no hypocrisy in Science. Principle is imperative. You cannot mock it by human will. Science is a divine demand, not a human. Always right, its divine Principle never repents, but maintains the claim of Truth by quenching error. The pardon of divine mercy is the destruction of error. If men understood their real spiritual source to be all blessedness, they would struggle for recourse to the spiritual and be at peace; but the deeper the error into which mortal mind is plunged, the more intense the opposition to spirituality, till error yields to Truth.

Human resistance to divine Science weakens in proportion as mortals give up error for Truth and the understanding of being supersedes mere belief.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, pp. 329:21–2)

All that God imparts moves in accord with Him, reflecting goodness and power.

Your mirrored reflection is your own image or likeness. If you lift a weight, your reflection does this also. If you speak, the lips of this likeness move in accord with yours. Now compare man before the mirror to his divine Principle, God. Call the mirror divine Science, and call man the reflection. Then note how true, according to Christian Science, is the reflection to its original. As the reflection of yourself appears in the mirror, so you, being spiritual, are the reflection of God. The substance, Life, intelligence, Truth, and Love, which constitute Deity, are reflected by His creation; and when we subordinate the false testimony of the corporeal senses to the facts of Science, we shall see this true likeness and reflection everywhere.

God fashions all things, after His own likeness. Life is reflected in existence, Truth in truthfulness, God in goodness, which impart their own peace and permanence.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, pp. 515:22–12)

The suppositional warfare between truth and error is only the mental conflict between the evidence of the spiritual senses and the testimony of the material senses, and this warfare between the Spirit and flesh will settle all questions through faith in and the understanding of divine Love.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 288:3–8)

Jacob was alone, wrestling with error, — struggling with a mortal sense of life, substance, and intelligence as existent in matter with its false pleasures and pains, — when an angel, a message from Truth and Love, appeared to him and smote the sinew, or strength, of his error, till he saw its unreality; and Truth, being thereby understood, gave him spiritual strength in this Peniel of divine Science. Then said the spiritual evangel: “Let me go, for the day breaketh;” that is, the light of Truth and Love dawns upon thee. But the patriarch, perceiving his error and his need of help, did not loosen his hold upon this glorious light until his nature was transformed. ...

... He had conquered material error with the understanding of Spirit and of spiritual power. This changed the man.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, pp. 308:16–28; 309:7–9 He (to 2nd .))

Jesus cast out evil spirits, or false beliefs. The Apostle Paul bade men have the Mind that was in the Christ. Jesus did his own work by the one Spirit. He said: “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.” He never described disease, so far as can be learned from the Gospels, but he healed disease.

The unscientific practitioner says: “You are ill. Your brain is overtaxed, and you must rest. Your body is weak, and it must be strengthened. You have nervous prostration, and must be treated for it.” Science objects to all this, contending for the rights of intelligence and asserting that Mind controls body and brain.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 79:17–28)

Human will-power may infringe the rights of man. It produces evil continually, and is not a factor in the realism of being. Truth, and not corporeal will, is the divine power which says to disease, “Peace, be still.” ...

... When the Science of being is universally understood, every man will be his own physician, and Truth will be the universal panacea.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 144:18, 27)

If men would bring to bear upon the study of the Science of Mind half the faith they bestow upon the so-called pains and pleasures of material sense, they would not go on from bad to worse, until disciplined by the prison and the scaffold; but the whole human family would be redeemed through the merits of Christ, — through the perception and acceptance of Truth. For this glorious result Christian Science lights the torch of spiritual understanding.

Outside of this Science all is mutable; but immortal man, in accord with the divine Principle of his being, God, neither sins, suffers, nor dies. The days of our pilgrimage will multiply instead of diminish, when God's kingdom comes on earth; for the true way leads to Life instead of to death, and earthly experience discloses the finity of error and the infinite capacities of Truth, in which God gives man dominion over all the earth.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 202:6–23)

Spiritual living and blessedness are the only evidences, by which we can recognize true existence and feel the unspeakable peace which comes from an all-absorbing spiritual love.

When we learn the way in Christian Science and recognize man's spiritual being, we shall behold and understand God's creation, — all the glories of earth and heaven and man.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 264:24–31)

Glory be to God, and peace to the struggling hearts! Christ hath rolled away the stone from the door of human hope and faith, and through the revelation and demonstration of life in God, hath elevated them to possible at-one-ment with the spiritual idea of man and his divine Principle, Love.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 45:16)

Christian science hymnals

In Thee, O Spirit true and tender, / I find my life as God's own child; / Within Thy light of glorious splendor / I lose the earth-clouds drear and wild.

Within Thy love is safe abiding / From every thought that giveth fear; / Within Thy truth a perfect chiding, / Should I forget that Thou art near.

In Thee I have no pain or sorrow, / No anxious thought, no load of care. / Thou art the same today, tomorrow; / Thy love and truth are everywhere.
(Christian Science Hymnal, No. 154)

O gentle presence, peace and joy and power; / O Life divine, that owns each waiting hour, / Thou Love that guards the nestling's faltering flight! / Keep Thou my child on upward wing tonight.

Love is our refuge; only with mine eye / Can I behold the snare, the pit, the fall: / His habitation high is here, and nigh, / His arm encircles me, and mine, and all.

O make me glad for every scalding tear, / For hope deferred, ingratitude, disdain! / Wait, and love more for every hate, and fear / No ill,—since God is good, and loss is gain.

Beneath the shadow of His mighty wing; / In that sweet secret of the narrow way, / Seeking and finding, with the angels sing: / “Lo, I am with you alway,”—watch and pray.

No snare, no fowler, pestilence or pain; / No night drops down upon the troubled breast, / When heaven's aftersmile earth's tear-drops gain, / And mother finds her home and heav'nly rest.
(Christian Science Hymnal, No. 539)

Abide with me; fast breaks the morning light; / Our daystar rises, banishing all night; / Thou art our strength, O Truth that maketh free, / We would unfailingly abide in Thee.

I know no fear, with Thee at hand to bless, / Sin hath no power and life no wretchedness; / Health, hope and love in all around I see / For those who trustingly abide in Thee.

I know Thy presence every passing hour, / I know Thy peace, for Thou alone art power; / O Love divine, abiding constantly, / I need not plead, Thou dost abide with me.
(Christian Science Hymnal, No. 7)