Month: February 2019

2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2 – Remove the Veil

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2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2

12Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with great boldness, 13not like Moses, who put a veil over his face to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of the glory that was being set aside. 14But their minds were hardened. Indeed, to this very day, when they hear the reading of the old covenant, that same veil is still there, since only in Christ is it set aside. 15Indeed, to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds; 16but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.

1Therefore, since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart. 2We have renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God’s word; but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God.


  • Light a candle to remember Christ’s presence with you.
  • Sit five to fifteen minutes in silence bringing your attention to the Breath.
  • Let your attention rest on the veil over your face that separates you from the light of God.
  • This veil keeps you from receiving the fullness of God’s light and love.
  • Seek within you the hidden things, the shame, the guilt, the burdens that are keeping you behind the veil.
  • As you name these things, notice how God is lifting the veil from your face to receive light and love.
  • Rest in the light and love.
  • Like Moses, the veil keeps people from seeing the glory of God on your face.
  • What light and love of God do you wish to emanate as you go into the world today?
  • What is your message from God?
  • Give thanks to God for this time in prayer and for any new insights you have received.
  • Share as you feel led in the reply box below.

Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Sunday, March 3, 2019, the Transfiguration of the Lord (Year C)

Exodus 34: 29-35
Psalm 99
2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2
Luke 9:28-36 (37-43)

(c) 2019 The Rev. Dr. Lil Smith, DASD.  Permission to use in not-for-profit settings.  Please give credit to author.

Psalm 99 – Go to the Mountain

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Psalm 99:1-9

1   The LORD is king; let the peoples tremble!
He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
2   The LORD is great in Zion;
he is exalted over all the peoples.
3   Let them praise your great and awesome name.
Holy is he!
4  Mighty King, lover of justice,
you have established equity;
you have executed justice
and righteousness in Jacob.
5   Extol the LORD our God;
worship at his footstool.
Holy is he!

6   Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
Samuel also was among those who called on his name.
They cried to the LORD, and he answered them.
7   He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;
they kept his decrees,
and the statutes that he gave them.

8   O LORD our God, you answered them;
you were a forgiving God to them,
but an avenger of their wrongdoings.
9   Extol the LORD our God,
and worship at his holy mountain;
for the LORD our God is holy.

 
  • Light a candle to remember Christ’s presence with you.
  • Sit five to fifteen minutes in silence bringing your attention to the Breath.
  • Sit at God’s footstool.
  • Worship at God’s holy mountain.
  • Worship with God on the holy mountain.
  • Notice the view and all that you can see.
  • Invite the question you desire God to answer today.
  • Be in God’s presence to listen, to hear, to see, to taste, to touch, to know.
  • Notice the view and all that you can sense.
  • Sit and be.  Let the words arise from within you.
  • What is your message from God?
  • Give thanks to God for this time in prayer and for any new insights you have received.
  • Share as you feel led in the reply box below.

Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Sunday, March 3, 2019, the Transfiguration of the Lord (Year C)

Exodus 34: 29-35
Psalm 99
2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2
Luke 9:28-36 (37-43)

(c) 2019 The Rev. Dr. Lil Smith, DASD.  Permission to use in not-for-profit settings.  Please give credit to author.

Exodus 34:29-35 – Embracing Holy Halos

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Exodus 34:29-35

29Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. 30When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. 31But Moses called to them; and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke with them. 32Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. 33When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face; 34but whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he would take the veil off, until he came out; and when he came out, and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining; and Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

  • Light a candle to remember Christ’s presence with you.
  • Sit five to fifteen minutes in silence bringing your attention to the Breath.
  • Let your attention go to the energy in your body.
  • Describe your energy.
  • Feel your energy expand into the space around you.
  • Moses encountered God’s light, God’s energy.  Others could see this on his face.
  • Imagine how your energy connects with God’s light, God’s energy.
  • How do others see God’s light in you?
  • How do others experience God’s light emanating from you?
  • Look for these holy Halos of light in others today.
  • What is God’s message for you?
  • Give thanks to God for this time in prayer and for any new insights you have received.
  • Share as you feel led in the reply box below.

Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Sunday, March 3, 2019, the Transfiguration of the Lord (Year C)

Exodus 34: 29-35
Psalm 99
2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2
Luke 9:28-36 (37-43)

(c) 2019 The Rev. Dr. Lil Smith, DASD.  Permission to use in not-for-profit settings.  Please give credit to author.

Luke 6:27-38 – Do Not Judge and You Will Not Be Judged

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Luke 6:27-38

27“But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. 31Do to others as you would have them do to you.

32“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

37“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

  • Light a candle to remember Christ’s presence with you.
  • Sit five to fifteen minutes in silence bringing your attention to the Breath.
  • Let your attention go to someone or something in the world that you judge.
  • Where does the judgment live in your body?
  • Sit with the judgment.
  • Embrace the judgment.
  • What does the judgment need to say to you?
  • Embrace these words with love and compassion.
  • How do you desire to respond to the judgment?
  • Let your attention go to someone or something in the world that you needs your forgiveness.
  • Where does the hurt live in your body?
  • Sit with the hurt.
  • Embrace the hurt.
  • What does the hurt need to say to you?
  • Embrace these words with love and compassion.
  • How do you desire to forgive?
  • Hear these words again, 37“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”
  • What is your message from God?
  • Give thanks to God for this time in prayer and for any new insights you have received.
  • Share as you feel led in the reply box below.

Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Sunday, February 24, 2019, the Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

Genesis 45:3-11, 15
Psalm 37:1-11, 39-40
1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50
Luke 6:27-38

(c) 2019 The Rev. Dr. Lil Smith, DASD.  Permission to use in not-for-profit settings.  Please give credit to author.

1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50 – Sown in Weakness Is Raised in Power

/ Lil Smith / 1 Comment

1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50

35But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 36Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.

42So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. 43It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 44It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. 45Thus it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the physical, and then the spiritual. 47The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. 49Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.

50What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

 
  • Light a candle to remember Christ’s presence with you.
  • Sit five to fifteen minutes in silence bringing your attention to the Breath.
  • Remember a time when something sown in dishonor (a burden) was raised to glory (a blessing).
  • Remember the feelings in this experience around this experience. 
  • Give thanks to God for both the burden and the blessing.
  • Return to the Breath.
  • What in your life (flesh and blood) that is taking too much of your energy today?
  • Give this to God as fully as you can.
  • Resist the temptation to take it back.
  • Pray for God to show you the blessing.
  • Trust that as God has transformed before, God will transform again.
  • Trust and breathe.
  • What is your message from God?
  • Give thanks to God for this time in prayer and for any new insights you have received.
  • Share as you feel led in the reply box below.

Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Sunday, February 24, 2019, the Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

Genesis 45:3-11, 15
Psalm 37:1-11, 39-40
1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50
Luke 6:27-38

(c) 2019 The Rev. Dr. Lil Smith, DASD.  Permission to use in not-for-profit settings.  Please give credit to author.

Psalm 37:1-11, 39-40 – Inhale Trust

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Psalm 37:1-11, 39-40

1Do not fret because of the wicked;

do not be envious of wrongdoers,

2for they will soon fade like the grass,

and wither like the green herb.

3Trust in the LORD, and do good;

so you will live in the land, and enjoy security.

4Take delight in the LORD,

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5Commit your way to the LORD;

trust in him, and he will act.

6He will make your vindication shine like the light,

and the justice of your cause like the noonday.

7Be still before the LORD, and wait patiently for him;

do not fret over those who prosper in their way,

over those who carry out evil devices.

8Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath.

Do not fret–it leads only to evil.

9For the wicked shall be cut off,

but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land.

10Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more;

though you look diligently for their place, they will not be there.

11But the meek shall inherit the land,

and delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

39The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD;

he is their refuge in the time of trouble.

40The LORD helps them and rescues them;

he rescues them from the wicked, and saves them,

because they take refuge in him.

  • Light a candle to remember Christ’s presence with you.
  • Sit five to fifteen minutes in silence bringing your attention to the Breath.
  • Invite your attention to your enemies and negative energy. Set them aside to fade and wither.
  • Turn your attention to trust in God.
  • Name your trust. Inhale trust. Exhale compassion.
  • Continue this breath of trust for 3 minutes.
  • Turn your attention to delight in God.
  • Name your delight. Inhale delight. Exhale compassion.
  • Continue this breath of delight for 3 minutes.
  • Turn your attention to commit to God.
  • Name your commitment. Inhale commit. Exhale compassion.
  • Continue this breath to commit for 3 minutes.
  • Notice the freedom that comes with the breath.
  • What is your message from God?
  • Give thanks to God for this time in prayer and for any new insights you have received.
  • Share as you feel led in the reply box below.

Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Sunday, February 24, 2019, the Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

Genesis 45:3-11, 15
Psalm 37:1-11, 39-40
1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50
Luke 6:27-38

(c) 2019 The Rev. Dr. Lil Smith, DASD.  Permission to use in not-for-profit settings.  Please give credit to author.