Dependable power

The electricity went out during a storm and I suddenly felt bereft. The furnace wouldn't heat, and the electric stove wouldn't work. Night was coming on , and soon it would be too dark to read, and we obviously couldn't watch television.

Although we were able to get comfortable, and of course the electricity later came back on, to me this incident served to illustrate the fallacy of dependence on matter for power. Even in relation to physical healing we're not really dependent on matter - on a drug or some other material remedy - as the curative power. The Bible declares, ''Power belongeth unto God.'' n1

n1 Psalms 6:11

The Master, Christ Jesus, certainly set an example in his dependence on the one, divine source of healing power. In Luke we read, ''And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.'' n2 Small wonder, considering the mighty works he did: healing the sick, raising the dead, reforming the sinner - and in all things giving full credit to his Father. ''And they were all amazed at the mighty power of God.'' n3

n2 Luke 4:14

n3 Luke 9:43

The might of God is always available to us, today as surely as in Jesus' day. This is the Christly message of Christian Science. Through prayer, spiritual communion with our Father-Mother God, we're able to reflect this power. And our prayers are more effective as we express more of such qualities as joy, peace, love, understanding, which heal and bless. Because these qualities manifest the nature of God, our living of them brings us into harmony with our creator and His power. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, emphasizes, ''The letter without the spirit is dead: it is the Spirit that heals the sick and the sinner - that makes the heart tender, faithful, true.'' n4

n4 The First Church of Christ Scientist, and Miscellany p. 158

I was healed of a severe cold one day by insisting on expressing joy, no matter how miserable the body seemed to feel. I reasoned that just as ice on a sidewalk cannot possibly resist the melting effect of the sun's warmth, so no cold could resist the healing power of joy based on the realization of God's perfection and goodness, and man's uninterrupted reflection of that spiritual perfection and goodness. By the end of the day I was totally free.

The Scriptures say that Jesus ''went about doing good.'' n5 And Mrs. Eddy states, ''The good you do and embody gives you the only power obtainable.'' n6 Expressing good, we align ourselves with the power of supreme good, with God Himself, who gives us the victory over evil. The power of good enables us to withstand the storms of life. Unlike the electrical power that gave out in our neighborhood that stormy day, God's omnipotence, His infinite power - the true power source of the universe - is indestructible and eternal. It never breaks down, runs out, or gives way. There is never any overload or shortage. Adhering to our spiritual source of light and power, we will find ourselves always having what we need. We can depend on it!

n5 Acts 10:38

n6 Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 192.

DAILY BIBLE VERSE Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. I Chronicle 29:11, 12

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