Wednesday Readings for February 2nd, 2023

From The Bible

Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD'S side? let him come unto me. ...

For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves to-day to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.
(Exodus 32:26 (to 1st .), 29)

And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the LORD went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp. And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle. And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses. ...

And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. ...

And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.
(Exodus 33:7–9, 11 (to 1st .), 14)

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
(I Corinthians 13:12)

... Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan Saul's son delighted much in David: ...

... ¶ And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have been to thee-ward very good: ...

And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan: and Saul sware, As the LORD liveth, he shall not be slain. And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan shewed him all those things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, as in times past. ¶ And there was war again: ...

And the evil spirit from the LORD was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand: and David played with his hand. And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the javelin; but he slipped away out of Saul's presence, and he smote the javelin into the wall: and David fled, and escaped that night.
(I Samuel 19:1 Saul, 2 (to 1st :), 4, 6–8 (to :), 9, 10)

And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what is mine iniquity? and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life? ...

And Jonathan said unto David, ...

... if it please my father to do thee evil, then I will shew it thee, and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace: and the LORD be with thee, as he hath been with my father. And thou shalt not only while yet I live shew me the kindness of the LORD, that I die not: But also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever: ...

So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, ...

And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul. ...

And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, The LORD be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.
(I Samuel 20:1, 12 (to 1st ,), 13–15 if (to :), 16 (to 1st ,), 17, 42)

Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa. And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; ...

So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armour-bearer, and all his men, that same day together.
(I Samuel 31:1, 2 (to ;), 6)

¶ And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son: ...

Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided: ...

I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, ...
(II Samuel 1:17, 23 (to :), 26 (to 2nd ,))

And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan's sake?
(II Samuel 9:1)

... And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet. ...

Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face, and did reverence. ...

... ¶ And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. ...

... ¶ Then the king called to Ziba, Saul's servant, and said unto him, I have given unto thy master's son all that pertained to Saul and to all his house. Thou therefore, and thy sons, and thy servants, shall till the land for him, and thou shalt bring in the fruits, that thy master's son may have food to eat: ...

... As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table, as one of the king's sons.
(II Samuel 9:3 2nd And, 6 (to 1st .), 7, 9, 10 (to :), 11 As)

A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
(Proverbs 17:17)

... and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
(Proverbs 18:24 and)

Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
(John 14:23)

If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. ...

This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
(John 15:10, 12–15)

Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, ...

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(II Peter 1:1, 2, 4–8)

SCIENCE AND HEALTH WITH KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES by MARY BAKER EDDY

When the divine precepts are understood, they unfold the foundation of fellowship, in which one mind is not at war with another, but all have one Spirit, God, one intelligent source, in accordance with the Scriptural command: “Let this Mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” Man and his Maker are correlated in divine Science, and real consciousness is cognizant only of the things of God.

The realization that all inharmony is unreal brings objects and thoughts into human view in their true light, and presents them as beautiful and immortal.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 276:4–14)

Beauty, as well as truth, is eternal; but the beauty of material things passes away, fading and fleeting as mortal belief. ...

... Beauty is a thing of life, which dwells forever in the eternal Mind and reflects the charms of His goodness in expression, form, outline, and color. ...

The recipe for beauty is to have less illusion and more Soul, to retreat from the belief of pain or pleasure in the body into the unchanging calm and glorious freedom of spiritual harmony.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 247:10–12, 21–24, 31)

One marvels that a friend can ever seem less than beautiful.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 248:4–5)

The great miracle, to human sense, is divine Love, and the grand necessity of existence is to gain the true idea of what constitutes the kingdom of heaven in man. This goal is never reached while we hate our neighbor or entertain a false estimate of anyone whom God has appointed to voice His Word. Again, without a correct sense of its highest visible idea, we can never understand the divine Principle.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 560:11–19)

Mortal theories make friends of sin, sickness, and death; whereas the spiritual scientific facts of existence include no member of this dolorous and fatal triad.

Human experience in mortal life, which starts from an egg, corresponds with that of Job, when he says, “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.” Mortals must emerge from this notion of material life as all-in-all. They must peck open their shells with Christian Science, and look outward and upward.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 552:10–19)

Tones of the human mind may be different, but they should be concordant in order to blend properly. Unselfish ambition, noble life-motives, and purity, — these constituents of thought, mingling, constitute individually and collectively true happiness, strength, and permanence.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 58:5 Tones)

To love one's neighbor as one's self, is a divine idea; but this idea can never be seen, felt, nor understood through the physical senses.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 88:18–20)

God is the creator of man, and, the divine Principle of man remaining perfect, the divine idea or reflection, man, remains perfect. Man is the expression of God's being.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 470:21–24)

God is the Principle of divine metaphysics. As there is but one God, there can be but one divine Principle of all Science; and there must be fixed rules for the demonstration of this divine Principle. The letter of Science plentifully reaches humanity to-day, but its spirit comes only in small degrees. The vital part, the heart and soul of Christian Science, is Love. Without this, the letter is but the dead body of Science, — pulseless, cold, inanimate.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 112:32 God)

The true Logos is demonstrably Christian Science, the natural law of harmony which overcomes discord, — not because this Science is supernatural or preternatural, nor because it is an infraction of divine law, but because it is the immutable law of God, good.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 134:21–26)

The habitual struggle to be always good is unceasing prayer. Its motives are made manifest in the blessings they bring, — blessings which, even if not acknowledged in audible words, attest our worthiness to be partakers of Love.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 4:12)

The test of all prayer lies in the answer to these questions: Do we love our neighbor better because of this asking? Do we pursue the old selfishness, satisfied with having prayed for something better, though we give no evidence of the sincerity of our requests by living consistently with our prayer? If selfishness has given place to kindness, we shall regard our neighbor unselfishly, and bless them that curse us; but we shall never meet this great duty simply by asking that it may be done. There is a cross to be taken up before we can enjoy the fruition of our hope and faith.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 9:5)

If Christ, Truth, has come to us in demonstration, no other commemoration is requisite, for demonstration is Immanuel, or God with us; and if a friend be with us, why need we memorials of that friend?
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 34:5)

AN EXPRESSION OF LOVING GRATITUDE ...

All my life had been spent in semi-invalidism, and I seemed destined to a life of suffering. In three weeks after beginning Science and Health, to my joyful surprise I found myself a well man, sound physically, and uplifted spiritually. Life was being lived from a new basis, the old things of personal sense were passing away and all things becoming new. I learned that the infinite good is the one Friend upon whom we can call at all times, an all-powerful, ever-present help in every time of trouble; that His children are really governed in peace and harmony by spiritual law, and as the right understanding of it is gained, the other things soon follow, bringing a peace the human concept can never know.

... E. E. N., Washington, D. C.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, pp. 694:21; 695:7, 27 E)

We should relieve our minds from the depressing thought that we have transgressed a material law and must of necessity pay the penalty. Let us reassure ourselves with the law of Love. God never punishes man for doing right, for honest labor, or for deeds of kindness, though they expose him to fatigue, cold, heat, contagion. If man seems to incur the penalty through matter, this is but a belief of mortal mind, not an enactment of wisdom, and man has only to enter his protest against this belief in order to annul it. Through this action of thought and its results upon the body, the student will prove to himself, by small beginnings, the grand verities of Christian Science.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 384:3)

Mortal mind is the worst foe of the body, while divine Mind is its best friend.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 176:19)

Christian Science Hymnals

Saw ye my Saviour? Heard ye the glad sound? / Felt ye the power of the Word? / 'Twas the Truth that made us free, / And was found by you and me / In the life and the love of our Lord.

Mourner, it calls you,—“Come to my bosom, / Love wipes your tears all away, / And will lift the shade of gloom, / And for you make radiant room / Midst the glories of one endless day.”

Sinner, it calls you,—“Come to this fountain, / Cleanse the foul senses within; / 'Tis the Spirit that makes pure, / That exalts thee, and will cure / All thy sorrow and sickness and sin.”

Strongest deliverer, friend of the friendless, / Life of all being divine: / Thou the Christ, and not the creed; / Thou the Truth in thought and deed; / Thou the water, the bread, and the wine.
(Christian Science Hymnal, No. 568)

A holy air is breathing round, / A fragrance from above: / Be every thought from sense unbound, / Be every action love.

O God, unite us heart to heart, / In sympathy divine, / That we be never drawn apart, / To love not Thee nor Thine;

But by the life of Jesus taught, / And all his gracious word, / Be nearer to each other brought, / And nearer Thee, O Lord.
(Christian Science Hymnal, No. 431)

Lean on the sustaining infinite / And blessings will be yours. / Lean not on person, place, or thing, / Or economic laws; / But lean upon all-blessing God / Who will all needs supply / And give to all abundant good / That money cannot buy.

Let the healing reign of Truth and Life, / The reign of Love divine, / Be now established within me / To show Soul's clear design / Of Oneness, indivisible— / Of God and me as one— / As water is to ocean wave, / As sunbeam is to sun.

Love with a heart of tenderness / Your enemies and friends; / However hard this may appear, / This quality just mends. / For Love is God in action true, / A presence that is felt; / A healing and a saving power / That will all discord melt.

So lean, and let, and love; / This is the balanced Way. / It's free from self-will, pressure, stress; / It welcomes in God's day. / The leaning is so gentle; / The letting is so free. / And loving is the only way / To think, and speak, and be.
(Christian Science Hymnal, No. 519)