Tag: christ

Being awake to God’s goodness and love

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It can be hard to keep awake mentally and spiritually with so many technological and other distractions. Even though Christ Jesus lived so many years ago, he gave us practical wisdom to deal with these distractions. He said,

“what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.”*

Watch our thinking. Be mindful. Be proactive in thought. Watch what is going and coming from our consciousness. Much of our spiritual practice consists of being watchful of our thought: what am I focusing on? Is this really helping me progress? How is my relationship with God? How am I thinking about my fellow humans? Is this promotive of my spiritual identity? What am I believing truly has power in the world?

Being watchful and aware of our consciousness is a great practice to cultivate. Better health, more harmonious relationships, and greater opportunities come from being alert. They stem from our oneness with God and are inherent in our relationship with God.

God’s will for us is freedom, harmony, and joy. We can experience these as we draw closer to God and become more aware of God. This is a daily practice — moment by moment. We can always be checking in — am I focused on divine Truth, Life, and Love right now? How can I be a healing presence in this moment? Can I magnify the good? As we are more mindful of our own thoughts, we inevitably bring healing and bless those around us. We will uplift the atmosphere at the office, we will bring healing to our family relationships, we will comfort and strengthen ourselves and others.

When his students asked Jesus what some of the essential ingredients were to healing, he replied “prayer and fasting”. (Matthew 17:21) Fasting doesn’t have to be only about food. The definition of fasting can be expanded to include anything that would detract our attention from Spirit; anything that would take our focus off good. This could mean depriving ourselves from being news junkies and tuning in to what God is saying; or depriving ourselves of selfishness and being more generous; it could mean depriving ourselves of worry and doubt by focusing more on faith and trust. We can fast from materialism and anything that would try to captivate our attention — anything that doesn’t allow our thought to move forward towards progress, health, and healing. This type of fasting doesn’t deprive us of anything. Rather it allows us to “feast” on God! It keeps us so focused on God, that we become better, more satisfied, healthier, and happier.

Spiritual author and teacher, Mary Baker Eddy, wrote to a student,

“Keep awake by loving more.”**

Loving God primarily, and loving our neighbor as ourselves, keeps us awake to God’s presence. It keeps us tuned in to God, to be aware of all that God, good, is saying to us. God’s guidance and love are like radio waves filling the atmosphere — we just need to tune in to hear exactly the right message. Being awake to Spirit, enables us to see and know who we really are, helps us feel the love and peace of God’s presence, and inspires us with right activities that bless and heal the world.

So, we don’t have to blend in with the crowd — doing what others do and thinking what others think. We have power and authority over our life and consciousness. We can take our thinking into our own hands and feel the peace, love, and assurance coming straight to us from the Divine. We know that God’s will for us is only peace, only goodness, only love, courage, and strength. And we can bring these into our experience by keeping them close in our thought.

Know, then, that you possess sovereign power to think and act rightly, and that nothing can dispossess you of this heritage and trespass on Love.***

*Matthew 13:37
**We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, Vol II, p. 117
***Pulpit and Press, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 3
Image by Vural Yavaş from Pixabay 

Praying about your future

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When praying about the future and the need to make important decisions, I love praying with these 3 ideas:

  • He knows the angels that you need, And sends them to your side, To comfort, guard and guide.1
  • God gives you His spiritual ideas, and in turn, they give you daily supplies. Never ask for to-morrow: it is enough that divine Love is an ever-present help; and if you wait, never doubting, you will have all you need every moment.2
  • For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.4

I love to think of God’s angels as divine messages that we need at just the right moment. They supply us with peace, comfort, health, safety, and also meet our daily needs.

These angel messages counteract messages of doubt, despair, or lack. They assure us that we are at one with Christ, the true idea of God; that we are inseparable from God’s love and care. These ideas lead us and guide us to the best way to express that Truth in a way that blesses.

St. Paul was very sure of his inseparability from God, good. He said:

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.4

And what was he able to do with that understanding? He was saved during a shipwreck, healed of a snakebite, and able to help and heal others. God has given each us the power, ability, and understanding to follow Him/Her with confidence, joy, clarity, and courage.

You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.5

 

___

I The Christian Science Hymnal, No. 9
II Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 307
III Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
IV Romans 8:38-39 NIV
V I John 4:4 NKJV
Photo credit: Image by Muhammad Ma’ruf from Pixabay

Put more weight on your spiritual side

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Spiritual sense is the discernment of spiritual good.

We don’t hear the words “spiritual sense” used too often, but spiritual sense is essential to our peace and wellbeing. Spiritual sense is how we perceive beauty, goodness, love, affection, tenderness, satisfaction, and fulfillment.  These are spiritual qualities and because we are ultimately spiritual beings we have the capacity to use, see, and feel them now.

Spiritual sense is a conscious, constant capacity to understand God.

Spiritual sense is how we perceive the divine nature. It’s how we perceive the transcendent reality that is above the physical, material senses. This is important because everyone wants lives that reflect peace, health, wellbeing, and satisfaction. Gaining a daily dose of spiritual sense helps us have a consciousness that is uplifted and receptive to perceiving peace and wellbeing.

Spiritual sense, contradicting the material senses, involves intuition, hope, faith, understanding, fruition, reality.

When a consciousness that is imbued with spiritual sense reflects on the body, it manifests health, holiness, and wellbeing. Why is this so important? Because thinking and living with our spiritual sense releases anxiety, fear, and stress. It assures us of our oneness with God, divine Life, Truth, and Love. It shows us that we can never be separated from that Love no matter what the physical senses say. And as we hold to the spiritual fact, the wisdom, confidence, and courage that our spiritual sense communicates will take over. As we believe God more, and believe in physicality less, we tip our mental and spiritual scale. This allows God to tip the scale on the side of the divine and it brings blessings, healing, happiness, wholeness, and peace in our lives.

Material sense does not unfold the facts of existence; but spiritual sense lifts human consciousness into eternal Truth.

—

All quotes in the quote boxes are by Mary Baker Eddy. You can read her seminal work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, here.

Photo from Pixabay.