English
Español
Français
Deutsch
PortuguêsKNOWING THE TRUTH GIVES US DOMINION AND FREEDOM!
Metaphysical Application Ideas for the Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lesson on
“Truth”
for July 25, 2021
by Lindsey Biggs, C.S of Maryland Heights, MO
541 460 3515 biggs.lindsey@gmail.com
INTRODUCTION
Discover more about the spiritual foundation that our rock, Truth, gives us! By drawing closer to the Truth, we are equipped with spiritual clarity, readiness, and discernment. We are able to be a healer in the midst of conflict, to allay fear in ourselves and others, and to keep our thought close to God. We can feel the stability of our Rock, Truth, governing our experience as we commune with God on a daily basis and put God’s law into practice in our lives, churches, camp, schools, and home.
GOLDEN TEXT
“O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord.” Jeremiah 22:29
To hear means to: attend to, listen, apprehend, hearken, heed, become aware, give audience to.
So, we want to hear [apprehend, give audience to] the Word of God and then put it into practice! We don’t want to let it fall to the ground. Let’s explore the Word of God through this week’s Bible Lesson. Let’s reap greater blessings through an enriched spiritual understanding and gain more dominion as a result.
RESPONSIVE READING
In these passages from Proverbs 8, we have the Word of God coming directly from the perspective of God’s mouth:
- For my mouth shall speak truth
- All my words are righteousness
- Sound wisdom is mine
- I am understanding; I have strength
So, we gain a clear sense of what God’s role is, who God is, and the position of authority that God has. Then, we get a sense of what our role is:
- Listen to God
- Keep God’s ways and you will be blessed
- Keep watch daily, wait on God, and find life and favor
Since God is understanding and strength, where else would we want to go for our information? God is giving us all the understanding we need each moment to have dominion and victory in our experience. As the reflection of God, we reflect that understanding that God has. Study and prayer awaken us to this innate spiritual understanding that is already within us. We can trust and know that in every situation, we possess the understanding that we need to move through that experience gracefully and with poise. The consciousness that God gives us, enables us to have dominion and strength. Know it and claim it today!
SECTION 1 – TRUTH IS THE REVELATION OF YOUR BEING.
A rock is a perfect metaphor for Truth – unchanging, unmoving. (citation B1/Deut. 32:3) This is the spiritual foundation each of us has – it is the Kingdom of Heaven within us – that doesn’t change or fluctuate. Consider exploring the definition for rock in the Glossary of Science and Health.
“His work is perfect” (citation B1/Deut. 32:3) Mary Baker Eddy expands on this idea when she says “Perfection underlies reality.” (S&H 353:16) Perfection! Think of it! Flawlessness! Some other synonyms for perfection are: wholeness, excellence, fulfillment, integrity, precision, purity, supremacy, virtue, faultlessness, impeccability. She asks us, “Have you ever pictured this heaven and earth, inhabited by beings under the control of supreme wisdom?” (S&H 91:2) This is the ideal, the substance that underlies reality and our demonstration of metaphysics; it is the model that we can hold to in thought and bring out in our daily lives.
“A God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he…” (cit. B1/Deut. 32:3) With perfection underlying our being, then, of course, we have a God without iniquity – without any fault, blame, or lack. The Bible assures us that God is “of purer eyes than to behold evil” (Hab. 1:13), so God can’t even see or know anything unlike Himself. He sees us and knows us as His perfect, blameless, spiritual creation, with a permanent existence in His kingdom. No fallen man, no broken man, no unrequited love or effort. Just the pure, spiritual image and likeness of God.
“Let all the earth fear [stand in reverence and awe] of God” (cit. B2/Psalm 33:8). Standing in awe of God is refreshing! It takes the focus off of us and puts it back on God – where we truly want it! This shift in focus has a healing effect! A God-centered view that heals (from the Christian Science Monitor) describes how this shift in focus brings healing to our lives.
“Truth is a revelation.” (citation S1/117:27) Since Truth is a revelation, then it must include inspiration! It must include perpetually new views of divine goodness and power. We can love and cherish the inspiration that we received last week, but we can also know that each moment can include new “views of divine goodness and love” (S&H 66:15). These new views spring forward in our lives each day!
Truth is always knocking at the “portal” of your human consciousness! (cit. S4/vii:14) We can pause and allow God to lead and guide us, whether we are in the grocery store, office, on a road trip, or having fun at camp!
SECTION 2 – SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT LEADS TO GREATER CLARITY AND FREEDOM.
“For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.” (cit. B5/Psalm 119:89) Forever! Permanently established! This points to the unchangeable nature of God, to the reliable and dependable nature of God. Not a God who is here one day and not the next. Mary Baker Eddy writes that we want to express these similar qualities: “Experience has taught me that the rules of Christian Science can be far more thoroughly and readily acquired by regularly settled and systematic workers, than by unsettled and spasmodic efforts.” (Retrospection and Introspection 87:7-10)
Discernment is a mental quality we all possess! We have to cultivate it and use more and more of it in our experience. To discern is to differentiate, perceive, apprehend, know, observe, and make distinction. It gives us spiritual clarity and mental freedom. It enables us to see the tares for what they are and the wheat for what it is. Solomon utilized spiritual discernment to separate the truth from the error in the case of the two women that came to him (cit. B7/I Kings 3:5-28). The podcast, The role of humility in parenting by Ingrid Peschke, shares about how this story about Solomon’s wise way to discern between a fake mother and real mother helped her in her parenting skills.
“Prayer cannot change the Science of being, but it tends to bring us into harmony with it.” (cit. S8/SH p.2:15) I love this passage because it shows where the adjustment and alignment takes place. Adam Dickey writes that “God has no need of being adjusted” (God’s Law of Adjustment, Christian Science Journal, January 1916) So, the adjustment takes place in human consciousness to allow us to see more of what God is seeing; to allow the human to yield to the divine, and to allow Soul to hold complete control.
All the substance, Life, intelligence that we want and desire are already here. When we “subordinate the false testimony of the corporeal senses to the facts of Science, we shall see this true likeness and reflection everywhere.” (cit. S10/516:6-8) This is an important reminder. Do we want to subordinate the facts of Science or the false testimony? Which one am I subordinating in my thought?
SECTION 3 – MAKE THE WORD OF GOD PRACTICAL IN YOUR EXPERIENCE!
“The Word was made flesh” (cit. B8/John 1:14 & cit. S12/350:24) – Jesus’ ministry of demonstrating the Holy Spirit made Spirit practical in the human experience. It removed limitations, adjusted human bodies, silenced corporeal will, etc. It had a practical effect! “Divine Truth must be known by its effects on the body as well as on the mind…” (cit. S12/ 350:24) It has a practical effect on the mind and therefore on the body. It resolves business situations, housing sales, helps make right decisions, renews vitality in churches, spiritualizes character, and harmonizes the body. These are the effects of what Jesus demonstrated while he was here on earth, and the Holy Spirit allows each of us to live and demonstrate the Word of God practically.
“Always begin your treatment by allaying the fear of patients.” (S&H 411:27) Whether we are praying for ourselves or for others, we can follow this simple rule of Christian Science practice. To expand on the effectiveness of this, Mary Baker Eddy says:
“You must gain Love and lose the false sense called love. You must feel the Love that never faileth,—that perfect sense of divine power that makes healing no longer power but grace. Then you will have the Love that casts out fear, and when fear is gone, doubt is gone and your work is done. Why? because it never was undone.” (We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, Vol 1, p. 218)
One time, a young family member asked me to pray for him regarding a skin irritation that seemed to appear. We gladly prayed together and the first thing I saw we needed to do was to get calm. It came to me so clearly that Jesus and his disciples (when they followed his example) must have known the complete nothingness of matter/error in each situation they encountered. Knowing the nothingness of the material situation, they were unafraid. Because they were unafraid, they weren’t fooled by the material senses and were immediately able to see the good that God was revealing to them. Knowing the nothingness of matter and error keeps us unafraid. Sometimes it takes a while to know the nothingness of matter/error and sometimes it happens quite quickly. Either way, as the nothingness of the problem, and the allness of God, good, dawns on our thought, the material challenge disappears. That was the case in praying with this family member. The truth dawned on our thought while we were praying together, and the turmoil of the skin condition disappeared. I was so grateful to glimpse more clearly the confidence, clarity, and discernment that must have been a key aspect of Jesus and his disciples’ healing ministry. It’s something we too can strive to emulate!
“Christian Science silences human will…” (cit. S16/445:19) What is wrong with human will? Well, it tends to stand in the way of God’s will and law of harmony being made manifest. Mary Baker Eddy describes human will as “blind, stubborn and headlong” (S&H 490:8). Not the qualities we want! The divine will is what actually brings about harmony, health, and goodness. It is “the unlabored motion of the divine energy…”, and I know we all certainly love “unlabored motion”! It is the letting that healing is all about. See page 249, lines 1-9 in Science and Health for the “Let-us diet” – (with 5 “helpings” of Let us or Let) – all the ways that we can let God reign and rule in our experience.
SECTION 4 – KNOW THE TRUTH SO WELL THAT YOU AREN’T DUPED BY MORTAL MIND.
We are encouraged to really gain a practical, spiritual sense of the Scriptures, so we can put them into practice day to day. When we gain this strong relationship with the inspired Word, we will be harmoniously self-governed through an understanding of God. We want to put more faith in God than what the material senses are saying to us. (cit. S20/202:6-13) In fact, Matthew says we will “err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God” (cit. B12/Matt 22:29).
I’ve always been impressed with the way Deuteronomy encourages us to stay so close to the Word of God: “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” (Deut. 6:4-8 NIV)
So, we are being encouraged to not have a distant relationship with God or just some familiarity with the Word of God. We are encouraged to expand and deepen our understanding of God and relationship to God each day. Knowledge and understanding of God is a great defense against the suggestions of mortal mind, for then we are not fooled.
I once heard the metaphor that those who are looking for counterfeit money have to study the real/authentic money so well that they can instantly spot the counterfeit. So, we have to do the same! Understanding the Word of God enables us to quickly discern error when it would try and trick us and we are enabled to overcome it. We aren’t fooled and we know it can’t disguise itself as our thought because we know that our true thinking is pure, holy, good, unselfish, graceful, and beautiful.
Mary Baker Eddy gives us a strong admonition: “Beloved Christian Scientists, keep your minds so filled with Truth and Love, that sin, disease, and death cannot enter them. It is plain that nothing can be added to the mind already full….The right thinker abides under the shadow of the Almighty. His thoughts can only reflect peace, good will towards men, health, and holiness.” (Miscellany 210:1-17) It’s worth giving this short article called “WHAT OUR LEADER SAYS,” a regular read to be really familiar with it. I have found it helpful to have it printed out and hanging on a mirror in our home as a regular reminder.
SECTION 5 – POSSESS A SPIRIT OF MEEKNESS IN ALL YOU DO KNOWING THAT THE TRUTH WILL PREVAIL.
Gamaliel is such an excellent example for conflict resolution! (cit. B16/Acts 5:17-42) Everyone in the council is concerned with picking sides. Gamaliel, however, is concerned with being on God’s side. He is completely willing to give up his own human will and preconceived notions of how things should be done. He recognizes that he couldn’t possibly overthrow the will of God – nor would he want to! He possesses discernment, humility, wisdom, and meekness. He knows that if this new Jesus movement is just a fad, that it will fade out on its own, and he doesn’t need to get all riled up about it. He isn’t offended, and is willing to “renounce aggression, oppression, and the pride of power” (S&H 451:4).
In the same way, if we have an issue that arises at work, school, or church, we can approach it with the same spiritual poise that Gamaliel had. [We can follow the Biblical model to “Think without strife” which is a CedarS song motto.] If it’s not from God, it will perish on its own. No need to get riled up about it. If it is from God, then it will come to fruition in a way that blesses everyone. This truly embodies the spirit of “not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42) that Jesus so humbly expressed.
The article entitled “Taking Offense” by Mary Baker Eddy has many more good ideas related to this theme. Here’s an example: “we should go forth into life … with a temper so genial that the friction of the world shall not wear upon our sensibilities; with an equanimity so settled that no passing breath nor accidental disturbance shall agitate or ruffle it; with a charity broad enough to cover the whole world’s evil,…” (Miscellaneous Writings, 223:17) What a helpful reminder for each of us as we go through life and engage in a variety of relationships at church, camp, school, and home.
“For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (cit. B17/I Cor. 3:11) No other foundation can we have! So, if we feel like we don’t have a very stable foundation, we can know that our spiritual foundation is the best foundation we can have! This is the rock that Christ Jesus embodied and that we can always turn to! Part of the definition for “Rock” in the Glossary of Science and Health is “spiritual foundation” (S&H 593:18). Gamaliel knew this spiritual foundation so he was grounded, calm, and had spiritual clarity. Let’s see if we can have our outlook and the good we do today proceed from that spiritual foundation – that firm foundation of a perfect God and a spiritual, perfect man (S&H 259:11-14).
SECTION 6 – PUT TRUTH – THE LAW OF GOD – INTO PRACTICE TODAY!
We conclude this lesson with gratitude! Yes, we can always be grateful because the Truth is true, and it’s glorious, beautiful and God has given it to each of us!! God gives the ability to work “effectually” – effectively! God’s will for us is success! God wants us to be successful in all that God has called us to do! The Word of God works “effectually…in you that believe.” (cit. B19/1st Thess. 2:13) Believe in what? Believe in the goodness and power of God that is being made manifest in us perpetually! Mary Baker Eddy writes that the word believe in a Biblical basis means “faith, understanding, trust, constancy, firmness.” (S&H 488:7-11)
Citation B20 from the 1st chapter of James tells us that we don’t want to just read the Word of God in the morning and then forget all about it! (James 1:25) We want to live it, put it into practice, then we grow stronger in our faith, and demonstrate God’s goodness, and gain each day a greater understanding of the divine!
There are two important questions we can ask ourselves each day. “Am I living the life that approaches the supreme good? Am I demonstrating the healing power of Truth and Love?” (cit. S28/496:10-12) This helps keep us on the right track! If we answer, yes, we can rejoice and feel deeply satisfied. If we answer, not quite, then we can search ourselves and see what we can do this day to align ourselves more to unfold our greatest, spiritual potential. Perhaps it’s doing something kind for someone, sharing Science and Health with someone, praying for someone or uplifting our view of a family or church member. Spiritualizing our thought little by little each day, demanding of ourselves that we grow and demonstrate Christian Science, puts us on this path of fulfillment in Christian discipleship.
Truth is revealed and simply needs to be practiced! We can pick one spiritual idea or one spiritual quality (joy, compassion, integrity, etc.) and put it into practice today! Pick a spiritual goal and see how you can bring this spiritual focus into each activity today. Having this spiritual goal helps us feel our closeness with God no matter what we are doing. It enables us to demonstrate and feel the presence of the Christ – the activity of Truth and Love – grounding and governing our experience.
Have a blessed week!
- Click on this link for some GEMs of application ideas and Cobbey Crisler insights for Truth!
- Ken Cooper captures in his poem “Just Say in a Word” the power of God’s authority as it’s demonstrated in the Bible Lesson and its stories this week. PDF DOWNLOADS are at the bottom of this week’s Met webpage.
-
THANKS TO ALL OF YOU WHO EITHER PLEDGED OR SENT FUNDS (in any amount) to HELP CEDARS BUY a Pomme de Terre LAKEFRONT PROPERTY (0.7 acres) with a small house and Corps of Engineers lake access as a HOMEBASE for SKI CAMP and WATERSKIING ACTIVITIES FOR ALL OUR PROGRAMS.
- WE “SEALED THE DEAL” and MADE a FEW NEEDED UPGRADES BEFORE 20 SKI CAMPERS and staff used it last week and for the next week for this session and for two weeks of two more weeks of Session 4. Besides housing some of the group it has served as the kitchen and dining room for them all as well as a gathering place for Bible Lesson study and more. Coming with the GEMs will be a link to a short gratitude video they are sending that hints at the LIFELONG, DIFFERENCE-MAKING BLESSINGS donors have helped to make possible with their gifts.
- If you missed out and would like to help us pay for needed upgrades made (such as ceiling repairs, painting, phone and WiFi communications, a grill… ) you can call or text me (Warren Huff) at 314-378-2574 with your pledge or intent to give a gift to help us “love into view” this lasting legacy.
