THE SPIRIT

We read in the gospel of Luke 4:14 that "Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit". The Spirit means the forever consciousness of Love, which is the only consciousness and is forever active. The power of the Spirit is found in the absolute consciousness of the allness of God. This power is based on absolute good, absolute unselfishness, absolute right, absolute justice, absolute patience and so on. This absolute mental activity is the Principle that heals the divers diseases and reveals the devils of human knowledge.

Our focus must be on Spirit, not on personality, which is the opposite of God. Jesus' consciousness was exalted, he could perceive the things of Spirit, in place of the tangled net of theories and errors which ensnare those thinking as persons or personalities.

WALK HUMBLY WITH GOD

Do you have a sense of sin, either in yourself or in others? “The closet typifies the sanctuary of Spirit, the door of which shuts out sinful sense but lets in Truth, Life, and Love.” (S&H 15:3-5 The) In the sanctuary of Spirit we shut out a sense of selfishness, and all things besides God, Truth, Life, and Love disappear. In this closet, we understand the everpresence of God and make our demonstrations.

“Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil?” (Micah 6:7) The rams and rivers of oil can be thought of as repetitions of Truth or formulas. “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8) God has shown us repeatedly the nothingness of what we call something. The fear that disappears with the light, the sense of protection we feel in our daily walk, the aches and pains of material body that suddenly cease. So what does God require of us, if not repetitious affirmations of Truth? Live as the reflection of God. Experience all that God is being and nothing that self would have you believe. Do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly as the reflection of Good.

WHY AM I A CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST?

“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;” (Eph 4:4) This wonderful oneness is our eternal status. “One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (Eph 4:6) The Christ message first teaches us about the divinity of God, as this first hope of our calling becomes more and more real to our consciousness, it becomes our divinity: we reflect it and It becomes the consciousness of man.

“Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:” (I Peter 1:22) Why am I a Christian Scientist? Through baptism (total immersion) in the Spirit, we find a change of reason for action. Christian Science demands us to re-exam our motives and we find them changed. We have repented or redirected our basis of operation from self to Soul. It is natural to reflect kindness and happiness.

“Not materially but spiritually we know Him as divine Mind, as Life, Truth, and Love. We obey and adore because we apprehend the divine nature and love Him understandingly. We do not war over the corporeal sense of things, rather, we rejoice in the affluence of our God. Our religion is of the heart and not of the head.” (Paraphrase S&H 140:7-13)

TRUE PRAYER

Prayer begins with God, Mind. "Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard." (I Sam 1:13) It is that silent utterance that goes forth seeking the truth of being in order to know the true nature of God. "Consceration to good does not lessen man's dependence on God, but heightens it." (S&H 262:1 only) When we consecrate ourselves towards God, the all-creative Mind, our dependence on God is heightened as we desire to become more and more Godlike.

"Dost thou "love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind"?" (S&H 9:17 only) We should love the vision of Mind and value it above "all merely material sensation, affection, and worship." (S&H 9:20)

Our attitude must forever be "Thy will be done!" This is sacrificing everything for holiness.