Category: Life - Sharon Leman, C.S.Practitioner of Christian Science Healing

Get to Know God - a 28 day Project - Summary God is Life

13/10/2013

Summary: God is Life

“trust in … the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy; Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share; storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.” (NKJV, I Tim. 6:17-19 trust)

Reflection: What if our currency wasn’t money but these qualities we’ve been contemplating for the past 12 days? Now realize that these qualities exist in God, in Life, in infinite quantity and are available for every one - no matter race, religion, gender, or age – to freely receive and give. Imagine how wealthy and healthy each and every one of us truly is. Therefore, as long as we are availing ourselves of both receiving and giving, - demonstrating - these good qualities now, have the recipe for eternal life. Life is the eternal expression of good.

Spiritual Fact: “Life is eternal. We should find this out, and begin the demonstration thereof. Life and goodness are immortal. Let us then shape our views of existence into loveliness, freshness, and continuity, rather than into age and blight.” (SH 246:27-31)

“Truth demonstrated is eternal life.” (SH 289:1-2)

Get to Know God - a 28 day Project - Day 12

12/10/2013

God is Life
Day 12 – Abundance

a·bun·dance /uh-buhn-duhns/ η: 1 an extremely plentiful or oversufficient quantity or supply: an abundance of grain. 2 overflowing fullness, generosity. 3 affluence; wealth, plenty.

“The Eternal One will never leave you; He will lead you in the way that you should go. When you feel dried up and worthless, God will nourish you and give you strength. And you will grow like a garden lovingly tended; you will be like a spring whose water never runs out.” (The Voice, Isa. 58:11)

Contemplate the idea that when we feel dried up and worthless, it’s because we’re focused self-ward. But, when we turn to God, The Eternal One, there is an infinite supply of nourishment, strength, and inspiration, among other great qualities, available to us, and, which in turn appear to us, as needs being met.

Awareness Exercise: Become aware of Life’s unfolding divine abundance and opportunity all around you. If this seems an impossible task, notice the proliferation of nature – trees, flowers, insects, birds, etc. Think about how those beings don’t have to struggle to get what they need to growth and flourish. “Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” (KJV, Luke 12:27) King Solomon, by the way, was the wisest and richest King who ever lived.

“… in proportion as we apprehend the divine nature and love Him understandingly, … [we shall] rejoic[e] in the affluence of our God.” (SH 140:8-12)

Tomorrow, we'll summarize God is Life and move on to God is Principle

Get to Know God - a 28 day Project - Day 11

11/10/2013

God is Life
Day 11 – Renewal

re·new·al /ri-noo-uhl/ η: 1 the act of renewing 2 to begin or take up again, as an acquaintance, a conversation, etc.; resume. 3 to make effective for an additional period. 4 to restore or replenish. 5 to make, say, or do again. 6 to revive; reestablish.

“This brings me solace in the midst of my troubles: that Your word has revived me.” (The Voice, Ps. 119:50)

Comtemplate that Life, (the Word as opposed to matter) is the spiritual substance and source of infinite qualities and energy. Now, contemplate that God is your Life. If you knew you could restore, replenish, renew yourself simply by knowing that your life is constantly being imparted with an endless supply of qualities, how would that change things?

Awareness Exercise: Notice where are you stuck or depleted in your life? Now apply this right understanding of the source of all Life and its qualities to the problem. Notice how and where harmony is being restored. What’s possible?

“It is our ignorance of God, the divine Principle, which produces apparent discord, and the right understanding of Him restores harmony.” (SH 390:7-9)

Stay tuned tomorrow for God is Life: Abundance

Get to Know God - a 28 day Project - Day 10

10/10/2013

God is Life
Day 10 – Freedom

free·dom /free-duhm/ η: 1 the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical, emotional or mental restraint. 2 exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc. 3 the power to determine action without restraint. 4 political or national independence. 5 personal liberty, as opposed to bondage or slavery.

“If you look closely into the perfect law that sets people free, and keep on paying attention to it and do not simply listen and then forget it, but put it into practice—you will be blessed by God in what you do.” (GNT, James 1:25)

Contemplate the idea that Life is freedom. Recall to memory situations where you felt imprisoned, trapped, and confined but are now released. Now, knowing you have “escaped the imprisonment”, reflect on what changes took place in order to effect the change. Was it a shift in your perspective? Did thought change in your thinking or in someone else’s in order to make space for the change? If you or someone left a situation, did you move to a “place” where the thought was different? What happened on a mental level?

Awareness Exercise: Become aware of “the Spirit of the Lord”. In other words, become aware of the presence of Life as infinity, freedom, harmony, and bliss. Then, from this standpoint, search and discover how these qualities manifest in your life.

“God’s being is infinity, freedom, harmony, and boundless bliss. ‘Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty’.” (SH 481:3-5)

Tomorrow we'll check out God is Life: Renewal

Get to Know God - a 28 day Project - Day 9

9/10/2013

God is Life
Day 9 – Whole-heartedness

whole·heart·ed /hohl-hahr-tid/ adj 1 fully or completely sincere, enthusiastic, energetic, committed, etc. 2 hearty; earnest. 3 serious in intention, purpose, or effort. 4 showing depth and sincerity of feeling 5 full commitment, as to intention or purpose

“The Lord your God will change your heart[a] and the hearts of all your descendants, so that you will love him with all your heart and soul and so you may live!” (NLT, Deut 30:6)

Comtemplate the idea that God, Life, is reflected in whole-hearted living. Is it present anywhere in your life? If so, how does that affect the quality of your living? If not, will you allow God (Love, Truth, Life – the qualities that we’ve been studying) to “change your heart and soul so you may live” fully, with commitment and intention and sincerity in all aspects of your life?

Awareness Exercise: Imagine for moments throughout your day that God’s presence, His/Her qualities, are infinite are ever with you, are a source of inspiration to meet any given need, and are the only intelligence worth giving your attention to. Now refuse to accept anything unlike these qualities to occupy your thinking. What are the benefits to your being in this perspective? How does this thinking impact your perspective?

“God is infinite, the only Life, substance, Spirit, or Soul, the only intelligence of the universe, including man.” (SH 330:11-12)

Stay tuned for God is Life: Freedom

Get to Know God - a 28 day Project - Day 8

8/10/2013

God is Truth
Day 8 – Authenticity

au·then·tic·i·ty/aw-then-tis-i-tee/ η: 1 the quality of being authentic; genuineness. 2 not false or copied; genuine. 3 having the origin supported by unquestionable evidence; authenticated; verified. 4 entitled to acceptance or belief because of agreement with known facts or experience; reliable; trustworthy.

“Now thus saith the Lord that created thee, … and he that formed thee, … Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. ... bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him. Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: … I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God. This people have I formed for myself;” (KJV, Isa 43:1, 6, 7, 10, 12, 21)

Contemplate the idea that God, Truth, has formed you out of the qualities we’ve been exploring. What’s it like to accept that you are the genuine reflection of the original Creator and that your spiritual DNA is made from goodness, kindness, mercy, patience, integrity and so on? Remember in the introduction to Day 1 we talked about witnessing? If not, here’s what was written:

Witnessing means being authentically present with what you are examining. It creates the space for fuller connection with the good that is present. To feel that connection is to experience yourself as one with God.

Awareness Exercise: Notice the connection between your awareness of the nature of God’s qualities and how you feel when you are expressing them. Do you feel like you are experiencing not only God’s but your own authenticity? If so, notice how leaning in to these qualities anchors you in your daily life. Apply them to a challenge and observe how this application impacts the situation.

“As a material, theoretical life-basis is found to be a misapprehension of existence, the spiritual and divine Principle of man dawns upon human thought, and leads it … to the spiritual sense of being and of what Life includes.” (SH 191:8)

Tomorrow we take on God is Life: Whole-heartedness

Get to Know God - a 28 day Project - Day 7

7/10/2013

God is Truth
Day 7 – Fidelity

fidelity /fi-del-i-tee/ η: 1 strict observance of promises, duties. 2 loyalty. 3 conjugal faithfulness. 4 adherence to fact or detail. 5 accuracy; exactness:

“God’s readiness to give and forgive is now public. Salvation [the state of being protected from harm] is available for everyone! We’re being shown how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, and how to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life. This new life is starting right now,” (The Message, Titus 2:11-12)

Contemplate the idea that God loyally, faithfully, and with strict observance adheres to imparting divine qualities without fail, or cessation, and with absolute fidelity. Think, too, about what is indulgent in your life and how dropping that for strict adherence to expressing God-qualities might bring more fulfillment.

Awareness Exercise: Become aware throughout your day of how you can count on certain good qualities to happen in your life. For example, you can start with observing the certainty that each morning when you awake, there is light. Or, you might be aware of breath, or intelligence. Notice how you express this truth in your life.

“… the spiritual forces of divine Mind, whose potency is Truth, whose attraction is Love, whose adhesion and cohesion are Life, perpetuat[e] the eternal facts of being.” (SH 293:13-16)

Next we'll look at God is Truth: Authenticity

Get to Know God - a 28-day Project - Day 6

6/10/2013

God is Truth
Day 6 – Integrity

integrity /in-teg-ri-tee/ η: 1 the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished. 2 a sound, unimpaired, or perfect condition. 3 the underlying principle of good morals and ethics; soundness of moral character; honesty.

“Before time itself was measured, the Voice was speaking. The Voice was and is God. This celestial Word remained ever present with the Creator; His speech shaped the entire cosmos. Immersed in the practice of creating, all things that exist were birthed in Him. His breath filled all things with a living, breathing light—Then God surveyed everything He had made, savoring its beauty and appreciating its goodness…” and all Creation was done; it was complete. (The Voice, John 1:1-4 & Gen. 1:31)

Contemplate the idea that God’s work, - Her Creation, - is beautiful, good and complete. Now compare that Creation with the world you see around you. How are they similar? How are they different?

Awareness Exercise: Notice how what’s different about “the world” compares with the presence or absence of the qualities you’ve been exploring for the past 5 days. Now, being aware of things and/or situations that good qualities seem to be absent from, fill your thoughts about them with good qualities. Has anything changed? If so, notice how and make note of it.

“ … rejoice in the small understanding [you] have already gained of the wholeness of Deity, and work gradually and gently up toward the perfect thought divine. This meekness will increase [your] apprehension of God, because [your] mental struggles and pride of opinion will proportionately diminish. (Unity of Good, by Mary Baker Eddy 5:3)

Tomorrow we will take a look at God is Truth: Fidelity

Get to Know God - a 28 day Project - Day 5

5/10/2013

Summary: God is Love

“Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Whoever loves is a child of God and knows God. This is what love is: it is not that we have loved God, but that he loved us. Dear friends, if this is how God loved us, then we should love one another.” (GNT, I John 4:7 10, 11 )

Reflection: Before we move on to God is Truth, contemplate what it’s like to be thinking of God as states of consciousness. If God is Love and is the state of being good, kind, merciful, patient, does that change how you view yourself in relation to God? If so, how? Does it make it easier to see God as closer to you?

Spiritual fact: God created Man (the generic term for both man and woman) in his image and likeness. That likeness is Spirit, the substance of which is qualities like you’ve been exploring. Image or likeness means reflection, as in a mirror image. Therefore, Man as Love’s reflection is inseparable from Love. Think about that one!

“God is revealed only in that which reflects Life, Truth, Love, — yea, which manifests God’s attributes and power, even as the human likeness thrown upon the mirror, repeats the color, form, and action of the person in front of the mirror.”
(SH 300:31-4)

God is Truth
Day 5 - Actuality

actuality /ak-choo-al-i-tee/ η: 1 actual existence; reality. 2 an actual condition, or circumstance; fact. 3 the true or actual state of reality. 4 an indisputable fact, proposition, or principle like mathematical truth.

“The teachings of the Lord are perfect. They renew the soul. The testimony of the Lord is dependable. It makes gullible people wise. The instructions of the Lord are correct. They make the heart rejoice.” (GW, Ps 19:7, 8)

Contemplate the idea that God, as Truth, is indisputable and dependable, can be counted upon to be always true, just as certainly as 2 + 2 = 4. Accepting that God is good and this testimony is in actuality true, how would that empower your life? How would it make you renewed, confident, wiser, happier, more radiant?

Awareness Exercise: Today, play by the rule “nobody gets to be wrong”. Then, notice when truth is present and when it is absent. Notice how the presence or absence of truth affects your perception of reality.

“We call the absence of Truth, error. Truth and error are unlike. In Science, Truth is divine, and the infinite God can have no unlikeness. Did God, Truth, create error? No! “Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?” God being everywhere and all-inclusive, how can He be absent or suggest the absence of omnipresence and omnipotence? How can there be more than all?” (SH 287:9)

Tomorrow, we’ll examine God is Truth: Integrity

Get to Know God - a 28 day Project - Day 4

4/10/2013

God is Love
Day 4 – Patience

pa·tience /pey-shuhns/ η: 1 the quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like. 2 an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay. 3 quiet, steady perseverance; even-tempered care; diligence.

“… thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness …” (KJV, Neh 9:17)

Contemplate the quality of being patient, “slow to anger”. What would it mean to you if patience wasn’t something that you could run short of, but exists in infinite quantity outside of you, and that you could tap into whenever you needed it? How is patience related to mercy, goodness, and kindness?

Awareness Exercise: Throughout your day, observe when you feel patience and when you begin to feel the absence of patience. Notice the differences between the two states. Can you recognize whether you are being tender and true or not, has any bearing on the presence or absence of patience?

"The Divine Being … the patient, tender, and true, the One “altogether lovely;” (SH 3:12-14)

Day 5 begins with the synonym for God is Truth

Sharon Leman

Sharon Leman has been studying and practicing Christian Science for over 14 years and in 2012 dedicated her life to responding to requests for prayer in service to God and mankind.

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