The life-saving presence of Christ
The divine power that heals life-threatening diseases
YOU ARE NEVER ALONE
I once spoke with a medical researcher at a prestigious university. He was recounting his efforts to find a cure for cancer. As he described details of the disease, I couldn't help thinking of Mary Baker Eddy's insight that Life is not an event in matter; it is invulnerable, spiritual, and eternal. Mrs. Eddy is the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science. She writes: "Life is never for a moment extinct. Therefore it is never structural nor organic, and is never absorbed nor limited by its own formations" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 309 ).
If you were suffering and had lived in Jesus' time, wouldn't you have reached out to Christ for healing? You still can. The Christ is still just as real, just as powerful, just as able to heal now as when Jesus was here.
Her insight into the spiritual nature of life and the fundamental unreality of matter came through a spiritual healing she experienced and also from a deep study of Christ Jesus' ministry. It was clear to her that Jesus' ability to heal did not rely on material conditions or cures. And his record of success was astounding.
So it isn't surprising that people flocked to Jesus for healing. Wouldn't you have done the same? If you were suffering and had lived in Jesus' time, wouldn't you have reached out to Christ for healing?
You still can. The Christ is still just as real, just as powerful, just as able to heal now as when Jesus was here. Christ is the divine power that impelled Jesus' very life—the Godlike nature that toned everything he thought and did. This Christ is a divine presence active today, saving people from every kind of discord—even life-threatening diseases.
The founder of this magazine had an overriding conviction of the continuing presence of the Christ. From practical experience as a healer, Mrs. Eddy could write that Christ is "the divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error" (Science and Health, p. 583 ). And she explained, "Christ is the true idea voicing good, the divine message from God to men speaking to the human consciousness" (ibid., p. 332).
If you are in need of healing, you can hear Christ, Truth, tenderly speaking to you in a way that destroys disease. It may not be a human voice that others, too, would hear. But God can communicate in a kind of inward voice that speaks directly to your need. What others heard and responded to in Jesus' day, you can hear and respond to today. Yes, today!
The Christ is here to reveal that life is a God-given gift. This gift of Spirit cannot be taken away.
Let the Christ speak to you through the Bible. Jesus' words throughout the Gospels, as well as countless other spiritual truths in both the Old and New Testaments, are filled with divine power and the authority to heal. Consider just a few examples of how the Christ is speaking to you from the book of John. The humility with which you receive these divine messages can transform and regenerate your thought, your life—even your body.
"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27 ).
Fear does not foster healing. On the contrary, it is through peace that we realize our wholeness and well-being. But even the best human efforts to be unafraid or tranquil have limitations. Christ, Truth, gives us more than a worldly contentment. Christ reveals the very peace of God in our lives. Christ silences any doubts, enabling us to feel certain that God's creation is spiritual and intact. Christ helps us realize that man is like Spirit. Not like matter. Man is God's image. The fear associated with disease is dissolved by the Christ.
"I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10 ).
God gives you life. In fact, He is your Life. He is the very source and substance of your being. The Christ is here to reveal that life is a God-given gift. This gift of Spirit cannot be taken away. Your real life is not held hostage to the flesh. The loss of control that may accompany disease can be reversed as we understand God and who we are as His creation.
Gratefully accept the assurance that Christ is nurturing a settled calm and peace, relieving you of doubts.
God, Life, gives you your being. How could infinite, intelligent Life be defeated or engulfed by what it forms and expresses? Life could never be consumed by its perfect creation. Man, the image of God, is not a structure of cells that are out of control. Man, your true nature and mine, is tangibly spiritual. This substance represents a progressive, divine purpose. It is not destructive or suicidal.
The Bible emphasizes man's intimate relation to God when it assures us, "For he is thy life" (Deut. 30:20 ). Christ is here, urging in your thought this reality of Life. Even more, it speaks to us about the very abundance of Life.
This life was best exhibited by Jesus, who declared, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6 ). When we follow in Jesus' way—the way of Christ, Truth—we gain greater dominion over disease. We are also able to challenge the belief that disease has to take its course and that there is nothing we can do about it.
You don't have to feel intimidated or helpless in the face of such a frightening assertion. Right when disease asserts itself with all its aggressiveness and bluster, all its claims of pain or discomfort or discouragement, and says, "I'm going to have my way," mentally rebel. Come right back with the power and authority in Jesus' saving promise, "I am the way, the truth, and the life."
What does it mean to feel the conviction behind those words? In a sense, Jesus' message is speaking right to you. His words are drawing your thought radically away from fear, distress, and disease. He is nurturing your ability to see the reality of a true, God-given presence. He is telling you that the spirituality, the Christliness, the health, and the wholeness that his life so powerfully brought to light manifest the true way, the truth, and the life that God is calling on all of us to accept.
Don't let disease persuade you that it has authentic or final power, an unalterable course. God is the real power in your life. So when you let these words of Jesus fill your consciousness, you are doing vastly more than remembering a Biblical phrase. You're opening up to spiritual integrity and purity. You're making way for God's Christ to change the direction of your thought, your body, and your life.
Disease cannot withstand the Christ. A disease that would try to bully you with "Here is the way you will feel," must surrender to the Christly command, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." Disease is not the way. Christ is the way.
"I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you" (John 14:18 ).
You are never alone, even in what may seem the darkest hours of the night. The Christ is there to give you reassurance. The Christ comes to light in your thought, comforting you by revealing God's infinite power to heal and save. You don't have to step back in time to Jesus' era. You have the capacity to welcome the healing Christ into your consciousness now.
Gratefully accept the assurance that Christ is nurturing a settled calm and peace, relieving you of doubts. Humbly surrender to the fact that right now, Christ is giving you a fuller, more abundant sense of Life that cannot be overcome by sickness or any other trouble. Vigorously insist that Christ, not disease, is the true way. Rejoice that Christ is bringing comfort to the depths of your being.
At this moment, the Christ is coming to you. You can hear God's healing message and begin accepting right now your God-bestowed health and wholeness.
