Good evening and welcome to meditation time.
Tonight we will start with prayer and then some breathing to slow ourselves down.
Then I will be reading a selection of verses from the book of 1st Corinthians to help calm your heart and mind before sleep.
I will be using the New Living Translation.
After the verses the music will continue.
Have a pleasant and peaceful sleep.
Let's pray.
Dear God,
Thank you for giving us another day on this earth.
Thank you for sending your son so we could be closer to you.
Help us to show love in everything we do.
Protect us as we sleep and give us a peaceful and restful night.
Speak to us as we rest.
May we have the strength and motivation for the coming day.
Calm our hearts,
Calm our minds,
Calm our bodies,
And calm our breath.
In Jesus name,
Amen.
Let's do some breathing.
In through your nose,
Long and deep.
Out through your mouth,
Long and slow.
In through your nose,
Long and deep.
Out through your mouth,
Long and slow.
Gently close your eyes.
In through your nose,
Long and deep.
Out through your mouth,
Long and slow.
In through your nose,
Long and deep.
Out through your mouth,
Long and slow.
In through your nose,
Long and deep.
Out through your mouth,
Long and slow.
In through your nose,
Long and deep.
Out through your mouth,
Long and slow.
Let your breathing return to its normal rhythm.
1st Corinthians 2,
1-9.
When I first came to you,
Dear brothers and sisters,
I didn't use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God's secret plan.
For I decided that while I was with you,
I would forget everything except Jesus Christ,
The one who was crucified.
I came to you in weakness,
Timid and trembling,
And my message and my preaching were very plain.
Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches,
I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit.
I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom,
But in the power of God.
Yet when I am among mature believers,
I do speak with words of wisdom,
But not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world who are soon forgotten.
No,
The wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God,
His plan that was previously hidden,
Even though He made it for our ultimate glory before the world began.
But the rulers of this world have not understood it.
If they had,
They would not have crucified our glorious Lord.
That is what the Scriptures mean when they say,
No eye has seen,
No ear has heard,
And no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him.
1 Corinthians 15 3 I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me.
Christ died for our sins just as the Scripture said.
1 Corinthians 1 18 The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction,
But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.
1 Corinthians 12 12 The human body has many parts,
But the many parts make up one whole body,
So it is with the body of Christ.
1 Corinthians 10 31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do,
Do it all for the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 13 1 to 13 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels,
But didn't love,
Others I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
If I had the gift of prophecy,
And if I understood all of God's secret plans,
And possessed all knowledge,
And if I had such faith that I could move mountains,
But didn't love others,
I would be nothing.
If I gave everything I have to the poor,
And even sacrificed my body,
I could boast about it,
But if I didn't love others,
I would have gained nothing.
Love is patient and kind.
Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.
It does not demand its own way.
It is not irritable,
And it keeps no record of being wronged.
It does not rejoice about injustice,
But rejoices whenever the truth wins out.
Love never gives up,
Never loses faith,
Is always hopeful,
And endures through every circumstance.
Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless,
But love will last forever.
Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete,
And even the gift of prophecy reveals only a part of the whole picture,
But when the time of perfection comes,
These partial things will become useless.
When I was a child,
I spoke in thought and reasoned as a child,
But when I grew up,
I put away childish things.
Now we see things imperfectly,
Like puzzling reflections in a mirror,
But then we will see everything with perfect clarity.
All that I know is partial and incomplete,
But then I will know everything completely,
Just as God now knows me completely.
Three things will last forever,
Faith,
Hope,
And love,
And the greatest of these is love.
Amen.
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