Subject of the Week
Substance
Golden Text
I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: Ecclesiastes 3:14 (to 2nd :)
Responsive Reading
The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.
Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.
. . . the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
The Lord knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever.
They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
. . . the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth.
The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.
Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land:
Psalms 16:5; 37:3–6, 11 the, 18, 19, 21 the righteous, 31, 34 (to :) (KJV)These citations are provided with copyright permission from the Christian Science Quarterly® Bible Lesson department
One of the ways I like to think about substance is as the "essence" or the "isness" of everything I perceive, think, feel, hope, have faith in--all going back to God, the one Creator, Mind. In Christian Science study and practice, we know that matter has no meaning. The meaning of everything--from the color of green, to the flavor of a banana, to the love for my dog, to the fun of playing tennis, to the satisfaction of working out a math problem, to the beauty of a poem, to the warmth of an extended hand in time of need--finds its "isness", its substance, its meaning, in God. Thinking of experience (life) in this way, makes Jesus' commandment to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind: and your neighbor as yourself" practically understood and enjoyed (Luke 10: 27).
Knowing what substance is helps me realize that the kingdom of heaven is right here, right now. It's not only for a select few, I don't have to go somewhere else or do something special to get there. The kingdom of heaven is spiritual and it is seen and felt spiritually--that's our ticket to it! And, that's why it is "at hand" like both John the Baptist and Jesus said.
When I think of Substance, I try to think about stuff that I know will last and endure-not about things which will only be around for a little while. I know that if I am focused on seeing the spiritual truth in everyone and everything that comes into my experience, I can hold onto these right ideas and take them with me everywhere I go. If I am holding onto a lot of possessions or things that are material in nature, it makes it a lot harder for me to be quick and nimble in my thinking and it means I'm carrying a lot of stuff. Its pretty hard to get into the Kingdom of Heaven with a lot of baggage-and tough to go through life this way too!
Your true nature,your individuality,whatever your truly conscious of, as a child of God,goods goodness.
Seeing only the goodness that is always/only there in the real universe the information,promise reason & revelation of goodness, mercy, justice etc.
Loved yur video guys! My answer is: substance is the knowledge that we're spiritual; we're ideas; we're sons and daughters of GOD. And because we're ideas, we live in the kingdom; not only do we have access to all-good, we're made of all-good.
Thank you Victor and Ricky for your thoughtful presentation. Substance for me is understanding what God is conscious of, aligning my thought with that and in doing that I'm discovering I have a choice about what conscious state of thinking that I want to be living in. I can choose to think of everything as mortal and material, good and bad, happy and sad, which I have believed in th past as being substancial. Or I can choose to live in the under-standing or sub-stance of God's perfect spiritual limitless knowing. This is the Consciousness of the kingdom of heaven,- well it feels like you are in this heavenly state of Mind, because you feel so loved, assured, safe and certain that all is well, and having such a sense of compassion for all mankind [the Christ consciousness that Jesus expressed and that we each have within us which is "the Godliness that animates us" [as Mrs Eddy stated] to know and do good]. I've found in my own experience that nothing else gives me the sense of happiness and understanding that this state of mind gives me, and it never fails to heal.
Your substance is your spirituality - your strong sense of (and trust in) God's ever-present power, strength,abundant provision, ability, alertness, balance, security and protection, wisdom, intelligence, alertness, vision, perception, understanding, health, mercy, happiness, law,justice, purity,completeness, and any other attributes you can add to the list.
When you are really positive that God is the source of all the good in yout life. rather than yourself being responsible for it, then you ARE in the Kingdom of Heaven.
"stuff" is old slang for, guess what, substance. So, actually, you are made of Mind stuff.
We need some sunday school materials in Liberia