The Christ will call to you and lift you up

This week's Bible Lesson, Everlasting Punishment, is timely. So many people struggle with problems that seem to go on and on. There is much to be gained by studying the account of the woman with the spirit of infirmity.

That story is in Luke's gospel. Luke was a physician so his accounts of Jesus healing sickness are interesting. Luke would have been most impressed by this healing and he would have been able to question the disciples, who were present.

The unnamed woman moved around, bent over and unable to stand upright. She may have been doubled over in sorrow or actually suffering with a physical infirmity but this is how she appeared to most people. But it was not what Jesus saw. This was an unasked for cure. She did not approach him, he called to her. If you continue reading beyond what is included in this week's Lesson you see that Jesus describes her a being bound by Satan. That does not mean she had been living a sinful life, but that she was totally accepting the error or false belief of her situation.

Whatever was behind it, Jesus put his hands on her, probably on her shoulders or back, the very place where she seemed to be forced into submission, and he tells her she is loosed from this infirmity. Immediately she was made straight. In modern terms, her thinking was straightened out and she was able to stand upright for the first time in 18 years.

Have you ever felt bound by some lie or error about yourself? About your past?Did you ever indulge in impatience and perhaps say or do something unkind, and then feel guilty about it? Have you ever been out and about and been in the vicinity of someone who was sneezing or coughing, and then seemed to develop those same symptoms later? How about making a poor choice when buying something and then being stuck with a bill that you could not pay? There are many ways that 'Satan' can try to imply that we have done something for which we must be punished and that we deserve this punishment. That is a lie told by a liar.

Jesus did not delve into her past history. He saw her as the daughter of a loving Father Mother God, made in His image and likeness, never under subjection to any laws but His laws of ever present good. He just healed her by knowing the truth about her innocence and purity. And he did it in the most compassionate way so that she could see it as well. There was nothing left in her thought that needed to be punished and her sense of suffering was lifted away. There were many witnesses to this healing and those who saw her healed must have also changed their thought about her.

God does not make or cause sickness or sin. That is a false belief with  no authority behind it. It cannot enforce penalties, we do that by accepting the lies as true. How much better to turn to God and see His creation, where everything is good and pure and holy. No disease. No slipping into bad habits. No indulgence in wrong doing of any kind. No poor choices. No ill effects from contagion.

And no moping around in a 'spirit of infirmity'. Stand upright. Stand with God. Be freed.

Jesus saw him lie

I recently read an interesting interpretation of the story of Jesus and the man by the Pool of Bethesda. The writer's insight was in this phrase, :...and Jesus saw him lie".  This Pool was surrounded by porches filled with 'impotent' folk, those who were blind, halt, withered. They waited there for the waters to be stirred by an 'angel'. When that happened, the first one into the Pool would be healed of whatever disease they had. Jesus was walking by the area one day and noticed a man who had an infirmity for the past 38 years. Jesus perceived that he had been in this condition for a long time.

The account given in John's gospel says, "...and Jesus saw him lie."  This man had been lying to himself for all those years, accepting a false belief about his condition. But of all the people gathered around the Pool that day, the Master singled this man out for healing. He must have sensed that he could be awakened from that belief.

Jesus asks him if he wants to be made whole. Instead of an emphatic 'yes!' the man blames his failure to be healed on the fact that he had no to help him get to the Pool ahead of the others. I once worked with this story for someone who was having a hard time finding employment. He had called me and asked for prayerful support as he waited to be offered a job. The job 'pool' seemed to offer limited opportunities and someone always seemed to get hired ahead of him. This man was looking at his problem from the wrong perspective. We worked together to see what it was he had to give, why he was a good 'hire', how he could bring good qualities to an employer. It was not who he knew or what contacts he could provide. He soon was offered a good job.

Jesus tells the man by the pool to rise up. This is a good first step. Lift your thought out of the lie that seems to be holding you, limiting you, or labeling you. See yourself as God's beloved image and likeness with all the good that you reflect. Jesus did not offer him his arm and offer to race down to the Pool. He lead his thought away from any reliance on material aid.

He also told him to pick up his bed. Surely someone had carried him there on that bed and it was a symbol of his infirmity. Now he was perfectly capable of carrying it away with him on his own. He is also to walk. From the text it implies he had not done a lot of walking, if any, over that past 38 years. Jesus did not believe he would need some rehabilitation time to get those muscles into shape. He could instantly express complete strength and freedom. Immediately that man was made whole. Actually, his wholeness was revealed. It had always been there but he had been accepting the lie.

There is no law of God's that would impede, limit, or cause His child, His very idea, to be infirm. Quite the opposite. Principle, a synonym for God, is all about God's law of present good. uninterrupted good. Always being expressed and reflected. Sickness is not real and we can make the choice to stop listening to the lie and respond to the Christ's invitation to be whole right now. There is divine authority for this.

Reject the lie! Demonstrate the truth.

A potent trio

Early in my study of Christian Science I wondered about the order of the Bible Lesson sermon topics. Mrs. Eddy was very clear that these topics had come to her through divine revelation and she was not open to changing them. So we get these same 26 topics in this same order twice a year. I spent some time seeing how they flow naturally one into the next and how they are designed to answer our questions as we study them and apply what we are learning.

Right now we are in the middle of a powerful trio.

Reality
Unreality
Are sin, disease and death real?

How beautifully they support one another.

Another thing I am appreciating in this Lesson are all the promises God made. There are many in the Responsive Reading and others scattered throughout the rest of the citations. I was watching for the ones where God is speaking that say "I will" or "I have".

I will restore the fortunes of my people
I will break the yoke from off his neck
I will burst his bonds
I am going to save you from far away
I have redeemed thee
I have called thee by thy name
I have put my spirit upon him
I will hold thine hand and will keep thee

Wonderful assurances to expand on the Golden Text...he bringeth out those which are bound with chains.

God keeps His promises for each and every one of us. We cannot be bound or enslaved by any chain of events, by anything that would attempt to separate us from God, good.  The Lesson ends with this from Science and Health: "The admission to one's self that man is God's own likeness sets man free to master that infinite idea."

What will you see today?

Wow. I looked at the Golden Text this morning and realized I had been working with 'the works of God' part. In each section I looked for 'the works' that were described. Today it was the word 'see' that just lit up the page. It gave me a whole new focus for the rest of the week. So now I can be alert to 'see' the works of God.

Come and see the works of God.  Psalms 66:5

Elijah saw God's power in response to his request to show the people the true God.
Elisha saw the chariots of fire that took Elijah to heaven.
Elisha saw there is no death with the Shunamites son.
John's disciples saw that Jesus was the true Messiah by the healing work he was doing.
Mrs. Eddy saw the truth about God and man in her discovery of Christian Science.
John saw the new heaven and the new earth he describes in Revelation.

Come and see the works of God.

Do I think those things only happened 'way back when'?  No! I know they are happened every day right now. But this is a call to 'see' those works of God today, to be aware of the good and the beauty of His creation. To be looking for them and feeling gratitude in God's presence.

This is one of God's promises...the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.  Isaiah 40:5  Everyone shall 'see' the glory of the Lord. It's right in front of us and we can 'see' it, understand it.  As in, 'oh, I see', I get it.

Come and see the works of God. This is going to be a great day!

Back and forth

We were laughing as we watched our kitty go back and forth between two toys. He couldn't seem to make up his mind so he stood still and looked from one to the other. Haven't we all felt that sense of being unable to choose between two things?

This week's Bible Lesson opens with Elijah the prophet coming to address the children of Israel who were halting between two opinions. Not in the sense of suspending judgment but of vacillating between serving God and worshipping Baal. Going back and forth. He instructs them to choose. It is uncomfortable to sit astride a fence and the longer you sit there, the more uncomfortable it gets.

To those people it was not a question of which was the sole God, but which was more powerful and had the greater claim on their devotion. In Isaiah's time they would come to the point in their spiritual growth when they understood that God was the only Deity and beside Him there is no other.

My kids used to love hearing this story and picturing those prophets of Baal jumping around singing, "Baal, Baal, light the fire!"  But I wonder if it is any different for those who jump around from one medical remedy to another calling upon them to heal some physical challenge. "Excedrin, Excedrin, get rid of this headache!"  or "Cure my cold" or "help me lose weight."

There was no response to their chanting for their was nothing to hear them, nothing to respond.

Elijah takes over and he invites the people to come near. He addresses the Lord God of Abraham, and of Israel.  He prays that God will answer the call and show the people His power. And He does. In a big way, consuming the sacrifice, the wood, the stone altar, the dust and the water that had been poured on it.  The people saw and they understood. The Lord is God.  That is the reality of it.

Our Lesson on Reality invites us to 'come and see the works of God'.  It includes not only the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal, but Elisha seeing Elijah taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire, and then Elisha continuing Elijah's work healing a childless woman. He later raises her child from what appears to be death.  When Jesus begins his healing ministry John, who has been imprisoned by Herod, sends some of his students to Jesus to ask him if he is the promised Messiah. Jesus responds by telling them to show John what he has been doing, healing all manner of sickness and disease. His works speak for him.

Is God working in our age? Yes. Mary Baker Eddy discovered Christian Science, or the law of God as ever present good, and she began to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease as well. She wrote it in a book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, so all may study it and practice that same method of healing.

So there is no need to go back and forth, or halt between two opinions. The promised Comforter is here and available to all.

Come and see the works of God. 

Questions

I just love to look at the questions that show up in each Bible Lesson. This week there were several and I have been pondering them all week.

 The first one, in Section One, follows the story of Joshua and the battle of Jericho. He and his men of war and the  priests conquered the city without firing a shot. They laid 'open siege' to it, compassing it about for seven days before shouting at Joshua's signal. Those walls fell down flat. The question posed in Science and Health is "On which side are we fighting?"  Siege can mean a prolonged period of time. There are sometimes challenges we work on that seem to be a bit overwhelming and we wonder just how we are going to overcome those 'walls' of resistance. Here is an assurance that our 'open siege', our prolonged fervent prayers can be totally effective. Those 'walls' can fall down flat so that the way opens up to move forward successfully, to master the situation, to see a healing solution.
We have to stay alert and be sure just which side we are arguing for, the spiritual side or the material picture.

The next question was in the Fourth Section which shows our ability to deal with 'breath' issues, like allergies or lung disease. "Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?"  Stop identifying with the man in Genesis Two, created from the dust of the ground, and subject to that dust. Understand man made in God's image and likeness as explained in Genesis One. We reflect God, Life, just like the reflection of the original in a mirror. God is Spirit, God is Mind so we are ideas held and maintained in Mind, spiritual not material. As for the severity of the claim, as in allergies or disease, nothing is impossible to God, Spirit. Jesus healed all manner of sickness and all manner of disease with perfect assurance and success.

A thought-provoking question shows up in Section Five. "Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?"  Gilead was a mountainous part of Palestine where balm (balsam) was found and in the same place would be found those skilled in its use. Jeremiah is speaking, anticipating the captivity and the distressed cries of the exiles. The people had lost one chance of deliverance after another, and might now despair.  Here is another 'siege' situation where persistence and faith can bring about healing. Prayer works.

The Golden Text mentions 'stumbling blocks'. Stumbling blocks are defined as an obstacle or impediment. They will appear as we move forward on our spiritual  journey but they can also be considered stepping stones, opportunities to put into practice what we are learning as we study these Bible Lessons.

I am grateful to have these questions to think about each week and even more grateful for the healing solutions that lead to spiritual growth.

Holiness and wholeness

The theme running through this week's Bible Lesson on Man is holiness. It starts in the Golden Text and appears in each section of the Bible and in the correlative passages from Science and Health. So I decided to look up the word 'holy' in the dictionary. To be holy is to be sacred, to live according to a strict or highly moral religious or spiritual system; set apart for a religious purpose; deserving special respect or reverence.  I associate all of that with God and I look forward to gaining a clearer understanding of how that applies to man, each of us, me, because we are His children, made in His image and likeness. As He is holy, so must we, so must I, be holy, by reflection.

Another source is the Synonym Finder. Just look at what we are as holy children of a holy Father.
Blessed. Heaven-born. (That one wipes out any so-called birth defects or hereditary problems!) Blissful. (That means always at peace and joyous, aware of the good all around us) Devout. (One who expresses goodness and is devoted to God) Right-minded. (Having that Mind that was in Christ Jesus, we can always think and do the right thing, always hold the right concept or opinion of ourselves and others, of current events) Innocent. (One of my favorites,  not guilty of breaking any spiritual law, not accountable to any material medical law) Pure. (Without flaw eliminates any skin problems or belief of cancer) Untainted. (Free from anything that would try to attach itself to us of an impure nature, no problems with temper or hatred)

It sounds like a lot to live up to but the good news (the gospel) is that all of the above is already true about us, each one of us, by divine birthright. It is our true nature. We just have to make a practice of claiming it daily in our prayers for ourselves. It is a good thing to establish in thought at the very beginning of the day and then to bring to mind all day long as things come up to try to make us believe otherwise. God is holy, I am holy. I am whole in my holiness. Nothing unlike holiness can be a part of me or anyone else.

God, my Father Mother, is holy.
I, as His beloved child, His image and likeness, am holy. Whole
That never changes.

I'll be humming hymn 117 all day.