Responsive Reading: Job 22 : 21-23, 25-29

21.     Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.

22.     Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.

23.     If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.

25.     Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver.

26.     For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.

27.     Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.

28.     Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.

29.     When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.

1. I Chronicles 28 : 9 (know) (to ;)

9     …know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee;

2. Psalm 63 : 1-3, 6, 7

1     O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

2     To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.

3     Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.

6     When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.

7     Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

3. Micah 6 : 8 (and what)

8     …and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

4. Psalm 10 : 4, 5 (to ;), 6

4     The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.

5     His ways are always grievous;

6     He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity.

5. Psalm 50 : 22 (to 2nd ,)

22     Now consider this, ye that forget God,

6. James 4 : 1-4, 6-8, 10

1     From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?

2     Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

3     Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

4     Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

6     But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

7     Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

8     Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

10     Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

7. Mark 1 : 1

1     The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;

8. Matthew 5 : 1-3, 5, 6

1     And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:

2     And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

3     Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

5     Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

6     Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

9. Luke 18 : 9-27

9     And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

10     Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

11     The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

12     I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

13     And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

14     I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

15     And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them.

16     But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

17     Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.

18     And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

19     And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.

20     Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.

21     And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.

22     Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.

23     And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.

24     And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!

25     For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

26     And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved?

27     And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.

10. John 10 : 23-30

23     And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch.

24     Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.

25     Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.

26     But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.

27     My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

28     And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

29     My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.

30     I and my Father are one.

11. John 14 : 10 (the Father that)

10     …the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

12. John 8 : 29

29     And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.

1. 316 : 20-23

Christ presents the indestructible man, whom Spirit creates, constitutes, and governs. Christ illustrates that blending with God, his divine Principle, which gives man dominion over all the earth.

2. 70 : 7-9

Man is never God, but spiritual man, made in God's likeness, reflects God. In this scientific reflection the Ego and the Father are inseparable.

3. 588 : 9-19

I, or Ego. Divine Principle; Spirit; Soul; incorporeal, unerring, immortal, and eternal Mind.

There is but one I, or Us, but one divine Principle, or Mind, governing all existence; man and woman unchanged forever in their individual characters, even as numbers which never blend with each other, though they are governed by one Principle. All the objects of God's creation reflect one Mind, and whatever reflects not this one Mind, is false and erroneous, even the belief that life, substance, and intelligence are both mental and material.

4. 281 : 14-17

The one Ego, the one Mind or Spirit called God, is infinite individuality, which supplies all form and comeliness and which reflects reality and divinity in individual spiritual man and things.

5. 250 : 6-13

Mortal existence is a dream; mortal existence has no real entity, but saith "It is I." Spirit is the Ego which never dreams, but understands all things; which never errs, and is ever conscious; which never believes, but knows; which is never born and never dies. Spiritual man is the likeness of this Ego. Man is not God, but like a ray of light which comes from the sun, man, the outcome of God, reflects God.

6. 361 : 16-20

As a drop of water is one with the ocean, a ray of light one with the sun, even so God and man, Father and son, are one in being. The Scripture reads: "For in Him we live, and move, and have our being."

7. 42 : 19-21

The belief that man has existence or mind separate from God is a dying error. This error Jesus met with divine Science and proved its nothingness.

8. 315 : 3-16

That saying of our Master, "I and my Father are one," separated him from the scholastic theology of the rabbis. His better understanding of God was a rebuke to them. He knew of but one Mind and laid no claim to any other. He knew that the Ego was Mind instead of body and that matter, sin, and evil were not Mind; and his understanding of this divine Science brought upon him the anathemas of the age.

The opposite and false views of the people hid from their sense Christ's sonship with God. They could not discern his spiritual existence. Their carnal minds were at enmity with it. Their thoughts were filled with mortal error, instead of with God's spiritual idea as presented by Christ Jesus.

9. 270 : 22-24

The pride of priesthood is the prince of this world. It has nothing in Christ. Meekness and charity have divine authority.

10. 228 : 27-32

The humble Nazarene overthrew the supposition that sin, sickness, and death have power. He proved them powerless. It should have humbled the pride of the priests, when they saw the demonstration of Christianity excel the influence of their dead faith and ceremonies.

11. 448 : 2-5

Blindness and self-righteousness cling fast to iniquity. When the Publican's wail went out to the great heart of Love, it won his humble desire.

12. 18 : 3-12

Jesus of Nazareth taught and demonstrated man's oneness with the Father, and for this we owe him endless homage. His mission was both individual and collective. He did life's work aright not only in justice to himself, but in mercy to mortals, — to show them how to do theirs, but not to do it for them nor to relieve them of a single responsibility. Jesus acted boldly, against the accredited evidence of the senses, against Pharisaical creeds and practices, and he refuted all opponents with his healing power.

13. 19 : 17-24

Every pang of repentance and suffering, every effort for reform, every good thought and deed, will help us to understand Jesus' atonement for sin and aid its efficacy; but if the sinner con-tinues to pray and repent, sin and be sorry, he has little part in the atonement, — in the at-one-ment with God, — for he lacks the practical repentance, which reforms the heart and enables man to do the will of wisdom.

14. 25 : 26-32

Implicit faith in the Teacher and all the emotional love we can bestow on him, will never alone make us imitators of him. We must go and do likewise, else we are not improving the great blessings which our Master worked and suffered to bestow upon us. The divinity of the Christ was made manifest in the humanity of Jesus.

15. 22 : 3-22

Vibrating like a pendulum between sin and the hope of forgiveness, — selfishness and sensuality causing constant retrogression, — our moral progress will be slow. Waking to Christ's demand, mortals experience suffering. This causes them, even as drowning men, to make vigorous efforts to save themselves; and through Christ's precious love these efforts are crowned with success.

"Work out your own salvation," is the demand of Life and Love, for to this end God worketh with you. "Occupy till I come!" Wait for your reward, and "be not weary in well doing." If your endeavors are beset by fearful odds, and you receive no present reward, go not back to error, nor become a sluggard in the race.

When the smoke of battle clears away, you will discern the good you have done, and receive according to your deserving. Love is not hasty to deliver us from temptation, for Love means that we shall be tried and purified.

16. 21 : 1-5, 9-14

If Truth is overcoming error in your daily walk and conversation, you can finally say, "I have fought a good fight … I have kept the faith," because you are a better man. This is having our part in the at-one-ment with Truth and Love.

If the disciple is advancing spiritually, he is striving to enter in. He constantly turns away from material sense, and looks towards the imperishable things of Spirit. If honest, he will be in earnest from the start, and gain a little each day in the right direction, till at last he finishes his course with joy.