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hear Lindsey read CedarS “Met” for the week.
Knowing the Truth gives us light and freedom
Metaphysical Application Ideas for the Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lesson on
“Truth”
July 17–23, 2023
by John and Lindsey Biggs, C.S of Maryland Heights, MO
541 418 1176 JohnBiggsCS@gmail.com
541 460 3515 biggs.lindsey@gmail.com
INTRODUCTION
This week’s Lesson includes many great themes such as finding the wisdom and spiritual understanding that comes from God. From Solomon asking for wisdom, to Jesus bearing witness to the light, the Truth gives us the strength and conviction to know and demonstrate God’s Word.
Golden Text
Following God makes us glad. It plants us on a firm foundation – on a solid rock. His commands indicate stability and security. Stability in society comes from following God’s commands – giving us honesty, justice, mercy, etc. They also give us, and our nations, the ability to be unshakeable – having a poise based on a spiritual foundation. God’s commands – which we understand through the teaching of Christ Jesus – give us illumination, revelation, and spiritual understanding. This spiritual understanding leads to freedom!
Mary Baker Eddy wrote:
“God is ever present and ready to help me, and I trust in Him; my faith is planted on a rock that is immovable.” (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 454:2)
Responsive Reading
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” (James 1:5)
Spiritual understanding and spiritual wisdom gives us the answers that we need. You could say that the answer to each human problem comes through greater spiritual understanding – an awakened spiritual consciousness to the perfect reality of being. Humbling ourselves to see and know what God is seeing and knowing about each situation could involve a petitionary prayer, such as is illustrated through this Responsive Reading.
A petitionary prayer is humbly asking God for something. What do we need/want to ask for? Spiritual understanding – the ability to perceive spiritual reality rightly. Demonstration is the result of spiritual understanding. So, it makes sense that we would desire to see the light of God in each situation.
Mary Baker Eddy wrote, in the spiritual interpretation of the Lord’s Prayer:
“Enable us to know, — as in heaven, so on earth, — God is omnipotent, supreme.”
(Science and Health, p. 17:2–3)
She also wrote a petitionary prayer in her hymn “Feed My Sheep”:
“Shepherd, show me how to go
O’er the hillside steep,
How to gather, how to sow, —
How to feed Thy sheep;”
(Christian Science Hymnal 304)
Feeling our oneness with the divine, sustaining infinite, enables us to go forward with conviction and courage.
SECTION 1 – LET THERE BE LIGHT
In this first section we start off with recognizing our need for God. I counted the word “thy” 15 times in reference to God in the Bible portion of this section. So this section starts with God – who God is and what God does. Of course, “thy” is the King James Version’s way of saying “your”.
“O send out your light and your truth: let them lead me;”
“Shew me your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.”
“Give me understanding, and I shall keep your law”
Starting off with the one Ego, Mind, is a great way to pray. It shows us there is no other consciousness or Mind, but God. When we start that way, it dissolves the mists of our problems. It uplifts us to a realm of clarity and inspiration. It brings us out of the human realm of physicality to the understanding of one omniscient, spiritual Mind – pure and perfect – and governing all its creation perfectly. This helps us see that everyone’s spiritual nature is intact and forever connected to their Source. This realization helps bring healing light.
Light is an important theme in the Bible. Without light we wouldn’t be able to see! Without spiritual light there wouldn’t be knowledge of truth. Spiritual light gives us illumination, revelation and inspiration. “Let there be light” is God’s perpetual command.
As Psalms says:
“For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.” (Psalm 36:9)
And this section adds:
“Truth and Love enlighten the understanding, in whose “light shall we see light;” and this illumination is reflected spiritually by all who walk in the light and turn away from a false material sense.” (Science and Health cit. S5, 510:9)
Light is the illumination of thought that enables us to see spiritual reality. Salvation is the effect of light – the effect of God understood; is the result of the Christ coming to human consciousness and destroying whatever error we seem to be experiencing. Salvation is the effect of Truth, Life, and Love understood.
SECTION 2 – RECOGNIZE YOUR NEED FOR GOD
“Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.” Proverbs 23:23
This shows us what really has value! It is indicative of the “pearl of great price” – the knowledge of God and the demonstrations that flow from that knowledge.
Bible Lens Research adds:
“Qāna, the Hebrew term rendered buy, simply means to acquire something (not necessarily with money) in a way that indicates ownership.”
Since we reflect God, we can see that we actually already reflect and possess all the spiritual understanding that we need. This is a moment by moment demonstration rather than an accumulation of wealth or knowledge. It is a reflected understanding. Spiritual understanding comes through listening to God, good. It’s actually pausing the human mind to listen, be still, and hear what God is revealing to you. It also comes to us through the channel of consistent study of the Bible and the writings of Mary Baker Eddy. Study leavens thought.
This is what Solomon needed in his new endeavor as king. He wanted to be able to listen for that “still, small voice” to lead him to the right answers. His wisdom was evidenced in the case of the two women who came to him for justice (see 1 Kings 3:16-28) and in the fact that the Queen of Sheba came to visit him and “prove him with hard questions” (see II Chron 9:1).
Christ Jesus said:
“Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5)
Meekness recognizes our need for God. It enables us to pause, be still, and wait on God.
JB Philips translates the first beatitude this way:
“How happy are those who know their need for God, for the kingdom of Heaven is theirs!” (Matthew 5:3)
What a gift to know our need for God. Jesus certainly recognized his need for God. Knowing this enables us to humble ourselves and listen for God’s right direction.
There was one time when I needed to make a big decision — one that would affect my activities and employment for the upcoming year. Which way to take? There were two options, and I didn’t want to miss out on the goodness that each one would provide. I humbled myself to listen for God’s clear direction. I’ve learned that God’s plan blesses us in ways that we can’t foresee. So, I asked my husband to pray with me. I got really quiet and listened after this request. The answer I received was “it will be fine either way”. Well this angel message didn’t exactly tell me what to do, but it did relieve the stress and burden that I could somehow miss out by choosing one option over the other. So, I reasoned spiritually that if it was going to be fine either way then I would choose option B. As soon as I made the decision I felt at peace and the desire for the other option simply vanished. I knew I was on the right track. This decision continued to be a blessing for me for the next several years. We can seek God’s wisdom when we need direction. God’s discernment helps us pick the path that’s right for us. And sometimes God’s wisdom helps us discern ideas clearly that we couldn’t have otherwise discerned if we were relying on mere human planning.
Here is an example of one student who prayed for God’s direction when choosing the right college: Divine direction during the college search https://sentinel.christianscience.com/shared/view/1fa5xpeyxq4?s=copylink
SECTION 3 — LIVE THE TRUTH!
There’s been a lot of joy so far! Delighting in the truth, His instructions making our hearts glad, happy faithfulness…and this all makes sense, since the truth is that we are loved! And this Bible citation 9, from John 8, is a very joyful note. We know the truth! The truth is, that we’re free. Now, this passage that closes Bible citation 9 may be a very familiar one, if you’ve spent any time checking out the quotes that often grace the interior walls of Christian Science branch churches! “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32, citation B9)
However, that passage is sometimes read the wrong way: “IF you know the truth, THEN the truth shall make you free,” as if it was a conditional statement. This can lead to people who are seeking healing, trying to gather more truths so they can finally have enough – so they can prove that they do indeed know the truth, and then they’ll be free. Now, I don’t mean to be rude here – if you’ve ever felt like that, and I know I have, it’s a hard place to be and we’re just yearning for a greater sense of truth. Thank goodness that that is not what the passage says. It’s not, “IF you know the truth.” It’s “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:31,32, citation B9) This makes more sense!
If we follow Jesus’ teachings, then we know the truth – the truth that we’re free. This is really helpful, because we definitely would not try to treat Jesus’ teachings as if they were little trivia bits; we just practice following the Sermon on the Mount, learn from his parables, and follow his commands and example. And in doing this, we see the truth, we discover the truth, we live the truth!
Because the truth is that Truth, it does not depend on other people’s opinions about us; it doesn’t depend on how many people have believed something, or how long something has been believed. Truth is God – Truth is literally what God is! And following as Jesus taught and lived, is to live as the conscious expression of Truth. And that is our freedom! Discoverable as we live it; not a trivia sheet of “true facts” that we need to memorize, but the delight of living as we truly are, the representatives of Truth!
SECTION 4 – OUR UNBREAKABLE RELATION WITH GOD
Bible citations 11 and 12, both from the book of Jeremiah, are very interesting to me because they simply say what God is doing. It is easy and tempting to approach things in our faith lives from a transactional standpoint: I pray this much, and I get healed this much. I do this many good things, and God shows me this many good things. Now, there is a certain logic to that approach…but the problem is, that our relation to God is not transactional. It’s relational. It’s just the way it is. God is; therefore, creation (including us) is.
I love the way Mary Baker Eddy put in on page 250 of our textbook: “Man is not God, but like a ray of light which comes from the sun, man, the outcome of God, reflects God.” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures 250:12) Man is the outcome of God! We’re what happens because Truth is real! We are not just trying to express Truth; we ARE the expressions of Truth, governed entirely by the very nature of what Truth is. And these citations from Jeremiah illustrate that it is God who heals us; God who put His law in our hearts; God who is our God, regardless of what vague human beliefs may say. God loves us!
And this is why healing happens. The woman in the story recounted in Bible citation 14 was the beloved daughter of God. She responded to that invitation of Jesus – she was willing to admit that the presence and power of God, which Jesus was a perfect transparency for, and she followed through – and the light of God illuminated who she really was. Not because she bargained for it! But because she was already the beloved daughter of God. Isn’t it wonderful that each of us is also already the beloved of God?!
SECTION 5 – ENCOURAGEMENT AND STRAIGHTFORWARDNESS IN THE TRUTH
I love the determination, encouragement, and grit in this section! “Stand fast!…who did hinder you?…be not entangled…look into the perfect law of liberty, and continue therein…” (all excerpted from Bible citations 18 and 19) What a joy, that we can celebrate that all good comes from God…and since God is trustworthy, we can rejoice that we don’t ever lose the promise of that good.
Naturally, we need to actively live and think in ways that can avail themselves of this good – this is what Bible citation 17 is talking about. God isn’t excluding certain people from dwelling with Him; it’s just that, to actively avail ourselves of the joy of God’s consciousness, we need to be looking that way in the first place. No one is left out from being able to do this! And the encouragements of the next two citations are really helpful. We have been given good! We have been given the capacity to avail ourselves of it!
So, who can stop us from living this good? “Who did hinder [us]?” asks Bible citation 19. This isn’t a question to shame ourselves with. Sometimes it certainly does seem hard to feel the love of God. But consider the exact specificity of this. “Who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?”
While at any given time we certainly may feel hindered from feeling the truth (and that feeling or situation can certainly be healed!!), what can hinder us from obeying the truth? Even when it’s hard to feel the presence of God, we can still conduct ourselves in ways that honor and faithfully represent the certainty of His presence. For we DO dwell in His “holy hill,” one with our dear Father-Mother.
SECTION 6 – LIVE THE LIGHT OF GOD
We conclude this Lesson with all of the benefits of following and listening to Truth!
“…length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.” (cit. B20, Proverbs 3:1–3) .
Bible Lens Research has this to add:
“While binding something around one’s neck is an instruction found only in Proverbs, it echoes commands in Deuteronomy to tie the law on one’s hand and wear it on one’s forehead (see Deuteronomy 6:6–8; 11:18). And since writing was often done on tablets at that time, inscribing on “the table of thine heart” depicts internalizing God’s statutes (see also Proverbs 7:3).
It echoes another passage from Proverbs:
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5)
This shows us that we are not leaning on a limited material knowledge – the corporeal senses. Much the way that Solomon was asking for a deeper sense of discernment – he knew he couldn’t rely on the limited material knowledge that was presented when doing the important work of judging the cases presented to him. He needed to rely on the discernment and understanding God was giving him. As he did this, God directed his ways, leading to a good outcome. It enabled him to discern that which is unseen to the senses, and it enables us to do the same.
We can each pray to have the spiritual discernment and understanding that flow from our relationship with God. God wants to be known and expressed, so God delights in revealing to us what is real and true. This comes from silencing the human mind and its opposition to God. Recognizing the light of God is already present, and we are able to reflect that light, enables us to see that we are already at one with God living in the Kingdom. We don’t have to wait to get there. This is the ever-present light and reality we get to live today.
Have a blessed week!
Some GEMs of BIBLE-BASED application ideas (from Cobbey Crisler & others) should be POSTED during the week and others will be added to the string and EMAILED together later in the week. You can always check for current GEMs at CedarS INSPIRATION website, whether or not you’ve SUBSCRIBED here for this free, inspirational offering.
Also later in the week, look for Ken Cooper’s
“POETIC POSTLUDE”
contributions related to this Bible Lesson.
THANKS to all you PRECIOUS DONORS for ALL of your ONGOING SUPPORT!
Every camper & visitor will be blessed by your generosity, vision & LOVE!
ANOTHER MATCH WAS MET and its project operationally completed before camp! Thanks to several generous donors to our special A/V Appeal we were able to finish building a CHAPEL AV BOOTH that will protect not only new, donated equipment, but also all our hymnals for worship services and for CedarS Sunday Hymn Sings, like tonight’s first one of our Third (2-week) Session of 2023!
If you haven’t lately checked out the GIVING TREE, there are still plenty of other smaller areas of need to fill yet this summer! Campers & staff will also be blessed bigtime by the donations made to additional areas of camp, including the horse program, activity equipment, camperships, and Christian Science nursing and practitioner services.
We’re deeply grateful for EVERY GIFT of love & support,
The CedarS Team
P.S. For more about ways to keep CedarS operations ever more green and flourishing and/or to make a planned gift, a required IRA distribution or an ENDOWMENT GIFT (that will all be MATCHED), feel free anytime to call or text me (Warren Huff, Executive Director Emeritus and Project Manager) at 314-378-2574. I can put you in touch with our Financial Advisor/broker who donates all fees for stock transfers and freely shares tailored, tax-advantaged giving approaches.
