Wednesday, January 13, 2016
WEDNESDAY EVENING READINGS
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THE BIBLE

PSALMS

107:8 Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
34:4 I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
62:7 In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.
8 Trust in him at all times;
5 My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.

ISAIAH

65:13 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, …
19 … I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people:
21 And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat:
23 They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble;
24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
40:31 … they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

JEREMIAH

29:11 … I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

I SAMUEL

17:4 ¶… there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath,
8 And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.
9 If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us.
24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid.
32 ¶And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.
37 David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. 40 And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.
45 Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.
46 This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand;
49 And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.

MATTHEW

8:34 … the whole city came out to meet Jesus:
9:20 And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:
21 For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.
22 But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.
9:27 And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us.
28 And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.
29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.
30 And their eyes were opened;

MARK

11:22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils;
18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

LUKE

8:12 … believe and be saved.

PHILIPPIANS

4:1 … stand fast in the Lord, …
7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

ROMANS

8:28 … we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, …

II PETER

3:13 … we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
18 … grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

SCIENCE & HEALTH WITH KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES
BY MARY BAKER EDDY

SH vii:1
To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, to-day is big with blessings.

SH 167:7-10
Our proportionate admission of the claims of good or of evil determines the harmony of our existence, — our health, our longevity, and our Christianity.

SH 261:4
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.

SH 254:10-12
When we wait patiently on God and seek Truth righteously, He directs our path.

SH 167:22-24
It is not wise to take a halting and half-way position or to expect to work equally with Spirit and matter, Truth and error.

SH 426:8-9
When the destination is desirable, expectation speeds our progress.

SH 260:13
Science reveals the possibility of achieving all good, and sets mortals at work to discover what God has already done; but distrust of one’s ability to gain the goodness desired and to bring out better and higher results, often hampers the trial of one’s wings and ensures failure at the outset.

SH 167:30
Only through radical reliance on Truth can scientific healing power be realized.

SH 207:10-14
Evil is not supreme; good is not helpless; nor are the so-called laws of matter primary, and the law of Spirit secondary. Without this lesson, we lose sight of the perfect Father, or the divine Principle of man.

SH 367:30-4
Because Truth is infinite, error should be known as nothing. Because Truth is omnipotent in goodness, error, Truth’s opposite, has no might. Evil is but the
counterpoise of nothingness. The greatest wrong is but a supposititious opposite of the highest right. The confidence inspired by Science lies in the fact that Truth is real and error is unreal.

SH 192:21-23
Your influence for good depends upon the weight you throw into the right scale. The good you do and embody gives you the only power obtainable.

SH 495:14
When the illusion of sickness or sin tempts you, cling steadfastly to God and His idea. Allow nothing but His likeness to abide in your thought. Let neither fear nor doubt overshadow your clear sense and calm trust, that the recognition of life harmonious — as Life eternally is — can destroy any painful sense of, or belief in, that which Life is not. Let Christian Science, instead of corporeal sense, support your understanding of being, and this understanding will supplant error with Truth, replace mortality with immortality, and silence discord with harmony.

SH 14:12-16
Become conscious for a single moment that Life and intelligence are purely spiritual, — neither in nor of matter, — and the body will then utter no complaints. If suffering from a belief in sickness, you will find yourself suddenly well.

SH 206:12 hope
… hope, faith, love — is the prayer of the righteous. This prayer, governed by Science instead of the senses, heals the sick.

SH 213:4 As
“As he thinketh in his heart, so is he;” hence as a man spiritually understandeth so is he in truth.

SH 286:6-7 (to ,)
The understanding of Truth gives full faith in Truth, …

SH 38:10-14
Jesus said: “These signs shall follow them that believe; . . . they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” Who believes him? He was addressing his disciples, yet he did not say, “These signs shall follow you,” but them — “them that believe” in all time to come.

SH 569:11-14
He that touches the hem of Christ’s robe and masters his mortal beliefs, animality, and hate, rejoices in the proof of healing, — in a sweet and certain sense that God is Love.

SH 566:1-9
As the children of Israel were guided triumphantly through the Red Sea, the dark ebbing and flowing tides of human fear, — as they were led through the
wilderness, walking wearily through the great desert of human hopes, and anticipating the promised joy, — so shall the spiritual idea guide all right desires in their passage from sense to Soul, from a material sense of existence to the spiritual, up to the glory prepared for them who love God.

SH 454:22
Wait patiently for divine Love to move upon the waters of mortal mind, and form the perfect concept. Patience must “have her perfect work.”

SH 451:14
Man walks in the direction towards which he looks, and where his treasure
is, there will his heart be also. If our hopes and affections are spiritual, they come from above, not from beneath, and they bear as of old the fruits of the Spirit.

SH 497:24
And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to do unto others as we would have them do unto us; and to be merciful, just, and pure.

PUBLICATIONS QUOTATIONS
“Expectation”
By Ella W. Hoag
Christian Science Sentinel
February 21, 1925

Mary Baker Eddy writes in “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures”, “When the destination is desirable, expectation speeds our progress.” Expectancy of good presents hope in the midst of seeming despair, encouraging one to press forward to the overcoming of obstacles which might otherwise seem insurmountable. Always, then, there must be hope of good to come if there is to be proper advancement in any right direction. And where alone can real good be found? Where, except in God, the source and substance of all good! The Psalmist sang, “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.”

Christian Science, while it teaches the necessity of right expectation, also joins with the Psalmist in indicating that all true expectation is from God. Only as one’s hopes are centered in the operation of God’s law of love can they ever bring forth right fruition. As it is realized that God’s will includes all that is true and good; that it involves the necessary expression of all loveliness and perfection; indeed, that in it alone can be found all that is Godlike and glorious, one sees that to have his expectation placed in God is to be on the way to winning all that is desirable.

“Expectancy of Good”
By George Shaw Cook
Christian Science Sentinel
July 10, 1937

Human experience sometimes seems to justify the belief that anticipation of evil is more natural than expectancy of good. Mortal history may seem to vindicate a pessimistic rather than an optimistic attitude of thought. In the book of Job we read, “The thing which I greatly feared is come upon me;” and this, unfortunately, has been the experience of untold numbers of persons since these words were written. Unquestionably, the fearful anticipation of evil is due to the belief, which obtains with most mortals that evil experiences are natural and inevitable. This erroneous belief has prevailed to such an extent that one often hears it said, with regard to a possible favorable occurrence, “That is too good to be true!” How much better it would be for mortals if they would cultivate the habit of expecting good instead of evil to come into their experience!

Jesus said, “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” And when he stood at the tomb of his friend Lazarus, he said, before calling him forth: “Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always.” We may be sure that our heavenly Father, divine Mind, hears and answers prayer. Let us therefore expect immediate healing and redemption to result from our prayers—our treatments. The more expectancy of good there is in a treatment, the better and quicker will be the results.