Responsive Reading: Lamentations 3 : 21-26

21.     This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.

22.     It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

23.     They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

24.     The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

25.     The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.

26.     It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.

1. II Corinthians 6 : 1, 16 (as), 18

1     We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.

16     …as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

18     And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

2. Exodus 19 : 3, 4, 5 (keep) (to 1st ,)

3     And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;

4     Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.

5 …keep my covenant,

3. Malachi 3 : 6

6     For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

4. II Kings 4 : 8-16 (to 1st .), 17-23, 25-27, 30-37

8     And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.

9     And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually.

10     Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.

11     And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there.

12     And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him.

13     And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for thee? wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? And she answered, I dwell among mine own people.

14     And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old.

15     And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door.

16     And he said, About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son.

17     And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life.

18     And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.

19     And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother.

20     And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died.

21     And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door upon him, and went out.

22     And she called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God, and come again.

23     And he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him to day? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be well.

25     So she went and came unto the man of God to mount Carmel. And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunammite:

26     Run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well.

27     And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet: but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man of God said, Let her alone; for her soul is vexed within her: and the Lord hath hid it from me, and hath not told me.

30     And the mother of the child said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose, and followed her.

31     And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awaked.

32     And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed.

33     He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the Lord.

34     And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm.

35     Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.

36     And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son.

37     Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out.

5. Isaiah 49 : 8-10

8     Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;

9     That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.

10     They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.

6. Hebrews 4 : 16

16     Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

7. Genesis 16 : 13 (Thou) (to :)

13     Thou God seest me:

8. Romans 8 : 28, 31

28     And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

31     What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

1. 78 : 28-32

Spirit blesses man, but man cannot "tell whence it cometh." By it the sick are healed, the sorrowing are comforted, and the sinning are reformed. These are the effects of one universal God, the invisible good dwelling in eternal Science.

2. 1 : 1-4, 6-14

The prayer that reforms the sinner and heals the sick is an absolute faith that all things are possible to God, — a spiritual understanding of Him, an unselfed love. … Prayer, watching, and working, combined with self-immolation, are God's gracious means for accomplishing whatever has been successfully done for the Christianization and health of mankind.

Thoughts unspoken are not unknown to the divine Mind. Desire is prayer; and no loss can occur from trusting God with our desires, that they may be moulded and exalted before they take form in words and in deeds.

3. 139 : 4-9

From beginning to end, the Scriptures are full of accounts of the triumph of Spirit, Mind, over matter. Moses proved the power of Mind by what men called miracles; so did Joshua, Elijah, and Elisha. The Christian era was ushered in with signs and wonders.

4. 328 : 4-13

Mortals suppose that they can live without goodness, when God is good and the only real Life. What is the result? Understanding little about the divine Principle which saves and heals, mortals get rid of sin, sickness, and death only in belief. These errors are not thus really destroyed, and must therefore cling to mortals until, here or hereafter, they gain the true understanding of God in the Science which destroys human delusions about Him and reveals the grand realities of His allness.

5. 120 : 15-24

Health is not a condition of matter, but of Mind; nor can the material senses bear reliable testimony on the subject of health. The Science of Mind-healing shows it to be impossible for aught but Mind to testify truly or to exhibit the real status of man. Therefore the divine Principle of Science, reversing the testimony of the physical senses, reveals man as harmoniously existent in Truth, which is the only basis of health; and thus Science denies all disease, heals the sick, overthrows false evidence, and refutes materialistic logic.

6. 371 : 7-19, 27-32

By those uninstructed in Christian Science, nothing is really understood of material existence. Mortals are believed to be here without their consent and to be removed as involuntarily, not knowing why nor when. As frightened children look everywhere for the imaginary ghost, so sick humanity sees danger in every direction, and looks for relief in all ways except the right one. Darkness induces fear. The adult, in bondage to his beliefs, no more comprehends his real being than does the child; and the adult must be taken out of his darkness, before he can get rid of the illusive sufferings which throng the gloaming. The way in divine Science is the only way out of this condition.

The necessity for uplifting the race is father to the fact that Mind can do it; for Mind can impart purity instead of impurity, strength instead of weakness, and health instead of disease. Truth is an alterative in the entire system, and can make it "every whit whole."

7. 596 : 20-27

Valley. Depression; meekness; darkness.

"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil." (Psalm xxiii.4.)

Though the way is dark in mortal sense, divine Life and Love illumine it, destroy the unrest of mortal thought, the fear of death, and the supposed reality of error. Christian Science, contradicting sense, maketh the valley to bud and blossom as the rose.

8. 151 : 18 (The)-30

The blood, heart, lungs, brain, etc., have nothing to do with Life, God. Every function of the real man is governed by the divine Mind. The human mind has no power to kill or to cure, and it has no control over God's man. The divine Mind that made man maintains His own image and likeness. The human mind is opposed to God and must be put off, as St. Paul declares. All that really exists is the divine Mind and its idea, and in this Mind the entire being is found harmonious and eternal. The straight and narrow way is to see and acknowledge this fact, yield to this power, and follow the leadings of truth.

9. 387 : 27-32

The history of Christianity furnishes sublime proofs of the supporting influence and protecting power bestowed on man by his heavenly Father, omnipotent Mind, who gives man faith and understanding whereby to defend himself, not only from temptation, but from bodily suffering.

10. 514 : 26-3

Understanding the control which Love held over all, Daniel felt safe in the lions' den, and Paul proved the viper to be harmless. All of God's creatures, moving in the harmony of Science, are harmless, useful, indestructible. A realization of this grand verity was a source of strength to the ancient worthies. It supports Christian healing, and enables its possessor to emulate the example of Jesus. "And God saw that it was good."

11. 261 : 4-7

Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts.

12. 369 : 5-13

In proportion as matter loses to human sense all entity as man, in that proportion does man become its master. He enters into a diviner sense of the facts, and comprehends the theology of Jesus as demonstrated in healing the sick, raising the dead, and walking over the wave. All these deeds manifested Jesus' control over the belief that matter is substance, that it can be the arbiter of life or the constructor of any form of existence.

13. 368 : 14-19

When we come to have more faith in the truth of being than we have in error, more faith in Spirit than in matter, more faith in living than in dying, more faith in God than in man, then no material suppositions can prevent us from healing the sick and destroying error.